Market-moving news for Saturday, September 26, 2026

What happened

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing unnamed US officials, that President Trump rejected Iran's proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the November midterm elections. Tehran's proposal would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz and resumed nuclear talks in return for the US lifting its blockade of Iranian ports; Trump is privately skeptical Iran would meet his demands and told staff he sees a renewed bombing campaign as likely. After the report published, Trump confirmed it to reporters on Saturday: 'They made a proposal, but I rejected it,' adding that Tehran wants the strait opened immediately because 'they're losing so badly.' Crude was indicated solidly higher Saturday.

What happened

The White House published a fact sheet late Friday detailing the deliverables from President Trump's three-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (September 23-25 in Washington): the two sides agreed to reciprocal tariff cuts on $30 billion of non-sensitive goods traded in each direction — US exports including agricultural goods, fish and seafood, logs and wood products, cosmetics and medical devices, and Chinese goods including small appliances, toys, holiday decorations, and children's car seats. China committed to importing at least 10 million metric tons of US coal in 2027 and again in 2028. The two countries established a US-China 'Super Intelligence' Dialogue (using 'super intelligence' in place of 'artificial intelligence') with the next exchange in November, plus a separate AI incident-notification channel, a US-China Board of Trade and Board of Investment, an investment council, an agriculture working group, and military crisis-communication steps. China also noted new export controls on two fentanyl precursor chemicals and 21 August arrests tied to precursor trafficking. Trump confirmed two more meetings with Xi: November in China and the December G20 in Miami.

What happened

Morgan Stanley published a research note on Friday raising the probability that its $756 Dell bull-case scenario materializes within the next 12 months, following a one-on-one deep-dive with Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke at Dell's Round Rock, Texas headquarters. The firm kept its Equal-weight rating and $511 base-case price target unchanged. The bull case values Dell at $756 (18x bull-case FY2028 EPS of $42), the base case at $511 (14x FY2028 EPS of $36.47), and the bear case at $306 (12x bear-case FY2028 EPS of $25.53). DELL shares climbed 5.6% on Friday to close at $565.86.