Oil Holds $101 Into Friday CPI as Nikkei Falls 2%

As flagged in Thursday's evening review, the hot-oil path printed. West Texas Intermediate settled 102.48 dollars. The S&P 500 closed 7,591.70, through Wednesday's 7,624.16 cash low. Overnight WTI eased toward 101 dollars after a 104.46 high. Brent tagged 109.97. The Nikkei closed off about 1.7 percent. Overnight E-mini futures sit near 7,628. Catch up: Thursday's analysis. This is the morning scorecard, not an instruction.

The Setup: Overnight ES Near 7,628

The S&P 500's last cash print remains Thursday's 7,591.70, down 0.58 percent (MarketWatch, CNBC, Morningstar). The Nasdaq Composite closed 26,081.72, down 0.65 percent, its fourth consecutive down day. The Dow closed 52,064.10, down 0.60 percent. US cash has not opened. Figures below are Thursday close plus overnight futures.

E-mini S&P 500 futures are near 7,628 as of about 08:00 UTC, labeled overnight futures (Investing.com 7,626.00 to 7,626.25; MarketWatch 7,625.75; Markets Insider 7,631.75; Micro ES 7,628.00). That is about 36 points above Thursday's cash close. Range 7,594.25 to 7,633.00. Thursday ES settlement was 7,598.50. The 10-year last printed about 4.96 to 4.97 percent, the highest since late 2023.

Story of the Day: Oil Holds $101 After a $104.46 High

The live tape is still crude. West Texas Intermediate is near 101.10 dollars (Reuters at 05:55 GMT; MarketWatch 100.93 to 101.23), a fade from Thursday's 102.48 settlement after an overnight high at 104.46. Range today about 100.73 to 104.46. Brent tagged 109.97 dollars (Reuters), a four-month high, then sat near 105.62 at 05:55 GMT. Both benchmarks remain on track to finish the week above 100 for the first time since mid-May, still up about 13 percent on the week.

Asian cash took the inflation impulse. Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 63,997, down 1.68 percent (MarketScreener), after an early drop of more than 3 percent toward 63,244. South Korea's Kospi fell about 2.3 percent to 6,872.39. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.2 percent to 8,712.20. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off about 0.8 to 1.2 percent. MSCI's Asia-Pacific gauge dropped about 1.4 to 1.5 percent. Houthis seized Yemen's port of Mocha, adding a Red Sea risk on top of Hormuz. Traders watching Thursday's 102.48 WTI settlement and today's 104.46 high. A slip back through Wednesday's 96.07 settlement would fade the strike premium. These are observations, not instructions.

August CPI Lands at 12:30 UTC

The print Waller tied to his September vote lands at 12:30 UTC. A Reuters poll centres on August headline CPI up 0.4 percent month on month and 3.4 percent year on year, with core up 0.2 percent month on month and 2.4 percent year on year. Thursday's PPI printed 0.4 percent month on month and 5.4 percent year on year. CME FedWatch assigns about a 67 to 70 percent chance of a 25-basis-point hike at the September 15-16 meeting, up from about 60 percent Thursday morning.

Oracle did the after-hours work the evening named. Revenue printed 19.35 billion dollars versus about 19.13 billion, and adjusted EPS printed 1.92 dollars versus 1.74. Cloud infrastructure jumped 121 percent to 7.4 billion. Remaining performance obligations rose to 664 billion. Shares jumped about 4 to 6 percent after hours after closing 152.94 dollars, down 5.4 percent, into the print. Adobe slipped after a modest beat.

Gold Reclaims $4,350 After Thursday's Break

Spot gold is near 4,350 dollars (TradingView 4,350.190 as of September 11; Kitco 4,353.10 at 03:12 Eastern), a bounce from Thursday evening's 4,322 after that session broke 4,400 and Tuesday evening's 4,358. Kitco's range sits about 4,300.40 to 4,361.40. Traders watching 4,358 then 4,400 as the repair map. A hold of 4,350 that reclaims 4,400 would repair more of yesterday's fade. A slide back through Thursday evening's 4,322 would resume it. These are technical reference points, not instructions.

Crypto: Bitcoin Holds $77,265 Ahead of CPI

Digital assets sat tight into the print. Bitcoin is near 77,265 dollars (TradingView 77,265 as of 08:00 UTC; CoinMarketCap about 77,243 to 77,264; Dow Jones Market Talk 77,214), a hold near Thursday evening's 77,130 after Thursday's low near 76,680. The 80,000 reclaim still has not printed. Ether is near 2,467 dollars (TradingView 2,466.6; CoinMarketCap about 2,466 to 2,468). Live levels sit on the ThriveInMarkets homepage. Bullish trigger remains a reclaim of 80,000 dollars, then last Thursday's 82,000 area. Bearish trigger: a slip through 75,000. These are reference points, not instructions.

What's Next: CPI, Then the Weekend Into FOMC

Three scenarios frame the session, not a recommendation. In a contained-oil path, WTI slips back through Thursday's 102.48 settlement and ES leans on 7,591.70. In a hot-oil path, a hold above today's 104.46 WTI high, or Brent through today's 109.97 high, would add another inflation impulse into CPI. In a gold-repair path, a hold of 4,350 then a reclaim of 4,400 would confirm overnight buyers. Traders watching 7,591.70 as the cash reference. Bullish trigger: a reclaim of Wednesday's 7,636.46, then Tuesday's 7,673.52. Bearish trigger: a slide through Thursday's 7,580.06 low. Docket: week-ahead note. Calendar: calendar.

For live prices see the ThriveInMarkets homepage. None of the above is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Index closes are Thursday, September 10, 2026; gold, oil, Bitcoin and Ether are live as of 08:00 UTC on September 11, 2026. Nikkei close is Friday, September 11, 2026.