Chain, Crude & Chips: October 12, 2026
Oil, bitcoin and AI chips in three short updates.
Crude: Brent settles at $106.65
Brent rose 1.8% to settle at $106.65 a barrel, the AP reported, and Reuters had it above $106 in the afternoon, the highest in almost two weeks, after the weekend strikes on Riyadh's airport. AFP quoted Saxo UK strategist Neil Wilson calling efforts to secure a Russia-Ukraine energy truce "muddy" and the US deal to buy some Russian diesel "a drop in the ocean." See our oil story and the ceasefire update.
Chain: bitcoin holds above $83,000
Bitcoin traded between about $83,400 and $84,300 on Monday: CoinDesk had it near $83,400 after an early high around $84,250, and Investing.com had it at $83,893 in the early morning. That follows dipping toward $80,300 last Thursday. Both outlets said U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs had $681 million of outflows last week, the largest weekly withdrawal since June. Analysts cited $82,000 as key support and U.S. inflation data this week as the next catalyst (CoinDesk). Levels differ a little by source and time. Earlier: bitcoin story.
Chips: another down day
Reuters reported the Philadelphia semiconductor index down 2.6% in the afternoon, with weakness most pronounced among chip stocks. Micron fell 3.9%, AMD 2.3%, Broadcom 1.9% and Nvidia 1.3% at the close (AP). Worries about AI spending, including the Financial Times report on OpenAI revenue, are weighing; see our OpenAI story. ASML reports Wednesday and TSMC Thursday. Tonight's Dusk Ledger has the full close.
