Chain, Crude & Chips: October 15, 2026
Oil, bitcoin and AI chips in three short updates.
Chain, Crude & Chips · Thursday, October 15, 2026 · 5:00 PM ET
Chain, Crude & Chips · Thursday, October 15, 2026 · 5:00 PM ET
Crude: WTI settles at $97.97
US crude rose $2.88, or 3.03%, to settle at $97.97 a barrel, while Brent slipped 14 cents to $105.92 (Reuters via Investing.com, CNBC). Reuters said a large US crude stock draw helped support prices, and Newsquawk put the EIA's crude draw at 8.557 million barrels against an expected 0.3 million. Newsquawk also pointed to reports that the US is considering easing sanctions on Russia's shadow fleet and suggesting an extra 100 million barrel release to IEA nations. See our morning oil story and our IEA story.
Chain: bitcoin bounces from about $80,000
CoinDesk said bitcoin fell to just above $80,000 early Thursday as South Korea's Kospi plunged and altcoins fell harder. Bitcoin.com said it rebounded above $82,000 by 1:10 PM ET. Levels vary by source and time.
Chips: a seventh straight down day
The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell for a seventh straight session (Reuters), and CNBC said the iShares Semiconductor ETF was lower for an eighth day, its longest slide since 2015. See our chip stocks story and tonight's Dusk Ledger.