🗞 Newsmakers — MID ET, 2026-09-30

📊 MARKET MACRO: S&P 500 $767.99 +0.50% Nasdaq $743.68 +0.78% Dow $512.05 -0.16% Russell 2K $279.57 +0.20% VIX $15.89 -0.94% US Dollar $28.77 +0.05% Oil $147.13 +2.64% Gold $381.45 -0.38% Bitcoin $84,248.71 +0.75% Treasuries: 10Y 5.24% 30Y 5.56% Today's Fed / econ events: 22:00 [Medium] Fed Kashkari Speech 21:10 [Medium] Fed Goolsbee Speech 17:30 [Medium] Fed Barkin Speech 14:30 [Medium] EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change (Sep/25) 14:30 [Medium] EIA Gasoline Stocks Change (Sep/25) 14:30 [Medium] Atlanta Fed GDPNow (Q3) 13:45 [Medium] Chicago PMI (Sep) 12:30 [High] GDP Growth Rate QoQ (Q2) 12:30 [Medium] GDP Price Index QoQ (Q2) 12:30 [Medium] PCE Price Index YoY (Aug) 12:30 [High] Core PCE Price Index MoM (Aug) 12:30 [Medium] Wholesale Inventories MoM (Aug) 12:30 [Medium] Retail Inventories Ex Autos MoM (Aug) 12:30 [Medium] PCE Price Index MoM (Aug) 12:30 [High] Personal Income MoM (Aug) 12:30 [High] Core PCE Price Index YoY (Aug) 12:30 [High] Goods Trade Balance (Aug) 12:30 [High] Personal Spending MoM (Aug) 12:15 [High] ADP Employment Change (Sep) 11:00 [Medium] MBA 30-Year Mortgage Rate (Sep/25)

🔥 HOT SECTORS TODAY (the sectors to watch): Communication Services +1.50% Consumer Cyclical +0.80% Industrials +0.62% Technology +0.51%

📰 MARKET THEMES & CATALYSTS: • Will CoWoS & Panel Packaging Demand Drive ASX's Next Growth Phase? ASE Technology's CoWoS expansion, panel-level packaging and LEAP growth could unlock opportunities as AI infrastructure demand rises. — zacks.com · 09/30 12:01p https://www.zacks.com/stock/news/2998340/will-cowos-panel-packaging-demand-drive-asx-s-next-growth-phase?cid=CS-STOCKNEWSAPI-FT-analyst_blog|quick_take-2998340 • Markets Move Mostly Higher After PCE Report Investors react to a cooler-than-expected PCE report. Crude oil prices on the rise. — seekingalpha.com · 09/30 11:30a https://seekingalpha.com/article/4951080-markets-move-mostly-higher-after-pce-report • Record AI spend is changing the market hunt for 'cash cows' and 'quality' stock investments One recent economic analysis found that the current spending on AI by the market is dwarfing previous historic capex booms, including the dawn of the railroad era and the internet. The hyper-scaler tech stocks have been more volatile in trading in 2026 as their free cash flow tu… — cnbc.com · 09/30 11:15a https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/30/best-stocks-cash-flow-ai-spending.html • PCE: Don't Confuse A Revision With Disinflation August core PCE came in at 3.0% YoY, but much of the apparent improvement reflected BEA historical revisions rather than fresh disinflation. The cleaner signal is the short-term trend: revised core PCE is running near 2.1% annualized over three months and 2.7% over six months. — seekingalpha.com · 09/30 11:00a https://seekingalpha.com/article/4951060-pce-dont-confuse-a-revision-with-disinflation • Trump set to unveil $200 billion South Korean investment in US, Bloomberg News reports US President Donald Trump is expected ​to unveil plans worth $200 ‌billion of South Korean investments in energy projects ​across the United ​States spanning nuclear power plants, ⁠a power generation ​facility and a natural ​gas export venture, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesd… — reuters.com · 09/30 10:47a https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/trump-set-unveil-200-billion-south-korean-investment-us-bloomberg-news-reports-2026-09-30/

🐘 BIG-CAP MOVERS ON NEWS (≥$10B — the MRVL-class catalysts):

1. ITUB +5% $8.52 (94B cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

2. INTC +3% $119.15 (600B cap) AI Uncertainty Is Rising, But These 3 Chip ETFs Still Have Momentum It's easy to get skittish about the tech sector amid recent talk of slowing AI development and OpenAI scrapping the launch of its latest model due to safety concerns. AI demand has driven much of the sector's growth in recent years, after all. — marketbeat.com · 09/30 11:02a https://www.marketbeat.com/articles/ai-uncertainty-is-rising-but-these-3-chip-etfs-still-have-momentum/

3. TQQQ +2% $79.19 (49B cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

📈 TOP 9 GAINERS (small/mid-cap % leaders, with catalyst):

1. EGFIX +896% $43.27 (12B cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

2. LGHL +16% $5.25 (1417B cap) Lion Group Holding Ltd. Announces Strategic Treasury Reallocation Toward Hyperliquid (HYPE) SINGAPORE, Sept. 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Lion Group Holding Ltd. — prnewswire.com · 09/30 9:15a https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lion-group-holding-ltd-announces-strategic-treasury-reallocation-toward-hyperliquid-hype-302893878.html

3. XRPN +16% $14.99 (592M cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

4. OPTX +13% $8.39 (338M cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

5. NFEGP +13% $440.00 (1.1B cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

6. UTHR +13% $541.90 (23B cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

7. IBRX +12% $9.93 (10B cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

8. CAPR +12% $9.58 (551M cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

9. HBNB +12% $5.19 (1.2B cap) (no fresh news today — likely technical / low-coverage move)

— auto-generated, alert-only (not investment advice). 'No fresh news' = likely a technical/low-float move, not a catalyst.