Thursday Afternoon Coffee - Markets Update - 11 Sep 2025 - Wall Street Sets Fresh Records as Tesla, Micron Lead; Dollar Slips on Warm CPI, Higher Claims

The Trade Academy Team
Sep 11
3 min read

Markets Update: U.S. stocks closed at record highs Thursday, powered by gains in Tesla and Micron Technology, as a warmer‐than‐expected August CPI and a jump in jobless claims reinforced bets that the Federal Reserve will cut rates this month.

Global Markets Roundup: 11 September 2025

Stocks Hit Records as Big Tech, Chips Rally

Tesla (TSLA) climbed, helping the S&P 500 and Nasdaq notch all-time highs. Micron Technology (MU) jumped after Citigroup lifted its price target to $175 from $150. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index (SOX) rose 0.9%, also hitting a record.

Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) surged after the Wall Street Journal reported Paramount Skydance (PSKY) is preparing a majority cash bid for the struggling media company. Centene (CNC) advanced after reaffirming its annual profit forecast and saying quality ratings for its Medicare plans were in line with expectations. Oracle (ORCL.O) slipped, giving back some of the prior session’s 36% surge that had re-energized the AI trade. Delta Air Lines (DAL) fell after the carrier reaffirmed its annual profit forecast.

Closing levels (preliminary):

S&P 500 (SPX): 6,586.74, +54.70 (+0.84%)
Nasdaq Composite (IXIC): 22,039.60, +153.54 (+0.70%)
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI): 46,104.89, +613.97 (+1.35%)

Macro: CPI Runs Warm, Claims Spike; Cuts Still Priced

August CPI rose 0.4% month-on-month versus 0.3% estimated, and 2.9% year-on-year, the largest annual increase in seven months. Initial jobless claims for the week ended September 6 jumped to 263,000, a near four-year high and 27,000 above the prior week; economists had expected 235,000.

Futures show traders are effectively certain the Fed will cut at least 25 bps next week, with about a 7% chance of a 50 bp move. Following Thursday’s data, Fed funds futures price a 91% probability of a 25 bp cut and 9% odds of 50 bps.

Recent labor prints have disappointed: August non-farm payrolls rose 22,000 versus 75,000 forecast, and payrolls were revised down 911,000 for the year ending in March.

Currencies: Dollar Eases as Rate-Cut Bets Firm

The U.S. dollar weakened against major peers. In afternoon trading, the greenback was down 0.3% vs. yen at 147.09 EURUSD while the euro rose 0.4% to $1.1738 EURUSD; the DXY dipped 0.3% to 97.51. The euro gained 0.2% vs. yen to 172.78 (EURJPY) and was flat vs. sterling at 86.14 pence (EURGBP). The dollar fell 0.5% vs. the Swiss franc to 0.7956 (USDCHF), while sterling rose 0.4% to $1.3578 (GBPUSD).

The ECB left rates unchanged and kept an upbeat view on growth and inflation. President Christine Lagarde said the eurozone is in a “good place.” The euro stabilized after a two-day slide amid geopolitical tensions on the EU’s eastern flank: Poland said it shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace Wednesday with backing from NATO aircraft.

Commodities: Oil Slips; Gold Dips

OPEC, which is adding barrels to the market, left demand growth estimates at 1.29 million b/d for this year and 1.38 million b/d for 2026. WTI settled down 2% at $62.37 a barrel and Brent fell 1.7% to $66.37. Front-Month COMEX Gold (September) slipped $6.70 to $3,636.90/oz (–0.18%).

Grains: Wheat Leads Higher

Wheat (Dec): $5.21 3/4/bu, +1.2%, as traders questioned forecasts for Russian crop growth.
Soybeans (Nov): $10.34 1/4/bu, +0.9%.
Corn (Dec): $4.20/bu, +0.7%.

Looking forward refer to the economic calendar below to see the upcoming events scheduled for today and the rest of the week.

General news - Information source from multiple newswires.

The article and the data is for general information use only, not advice!

The Trade Academy Team