Asian stocks mostly higher ahead of Fed's interest rate decision

• Seoul bus drivers called off a planned strike on September 16, 2026, after reaching a settlement with management. • The agreement was finalized at 1:50 a.m. and included a resolution regarding driver wages.

• Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Washington on September 24, though Beijing may cancel if the U.S. approves a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan. • Oil prices fell 3.2% following the restoration of a Saudi pipeline, bringing WTI near $102 and Brent below $106.

• The Nikkei 225 closed nearly flat at 63,484.10 on Tuesday as gains in AI stocks balanced out higher oil prices and caution regarding the Bank of Japan. • Guangzhou Auto shares surged 16% in Hong Kong on Monday following a joint asset deal with FAW Group.

• The KOSPI index rose 1.37% to close at 6,717.97 on September 16, ending a four-day decline. • Institutional investors bought a net 1.2 trillion won in shares, offsetting 1.6 trillion won in selling by foreign investors.

• Alphabet Inc. shares rose 0.33% to $346.13 as the company pursued a $1.5 billion AI acquisition and reported strong growth. • The company achieved $9.11 in earnings per share for Q2 2026 and saw Google Cloud revenue surge 82% year-over-year.

• Asian markets traded with mixed results on September 16, 2026, as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision. • Traders have already heavily priced in a 25-basis point interest rate hike, making the Fed's forward guidance and "dot plot" projections the primary drivers for market movement.

• Bloomberg Intelligence reports that AI-driven capital spending is expected to increase third-quarter earnings across all 11 S&P 500 sectors. • Big Tech and oil companies are projected to lead these gains as they invest more heavily in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

• MarketsMOJO assigned a Strong Sell rating to Asian Hotels (West) Ltd on September 15, 2026. • The rating is based on an analysis of the company's fundamentals, valuation, and financial trends as of September 16, 2026.

• The 10-year Treasury yield briefly rose above 5% on Monday as the S&P 500 fell 0.48% to close at 7,619.98. • The Treasury yield reached 5.014%, marking the first time it has topped the 5% threshold since October 2023.

• US oil prices and 10-year Treasury yields have begun moving in sync, increasing financial pressure on consumers and businesses. • The one-month rolling correlation between front-month WTI oil futures and 10-year government bond yields reached 0.96, the strongest relationship since June 2019.

• Wall Street opened lower today as the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury broke above 5%. • This yield represents the highest level reached for the 10-year Treasury note in recent trading.