WEEX Exclusive：Indexes Fall as Bank Earnings Diverge| WEEX TradFi Daily Brief (October 14, 2026)

Today’s Digest

• Major indexes closed lower on October 13 as mixed bank earnings and chip-stock pressure weighed on sentiment.
• Microsoft and Apple rose to record closing highs; Citigroup fell more than 5% after trading revenue missed expectations.
• Bitcoin rallied to about $88,000 before stalling, then traded near $83,000 as whales shifted back to accumulation.
• Ethereum L2 and privacy tokens strengthened, with OP, ZK, ARB and ZEC among the leaders.
• CPI is due on October 14, alongside pre-market earnings from banks and ASML.

1 Crypto Highlights

1）Bitcoin Stalls Near $88,000 as Whales Turn Back to Accumulation

Glassnode noted that the cost basis of buyers at higher levels continues to cap bitcoin’s upside. After bitcoin rallied to about $88,000, holders of one to two years sold heavily near a zone close to the break-even level of six-to-twelve-month holders, and price then stalled below it. Selling pressure has since eased. CryptoQuant data showed whale holdings rising to 3.03 million BTC, the highest since November 21, 2025, with the fastest 30-day accumulation pace since February 2026. Bitcoin last traded near $83,000.

Watchlist: BTC
Spot: BTC
Futures: BTC

2）Ethereum L2 Tokens Rally as ZKsync Launches a Real-Time Prover

Ethereum Layer 2 tokens rose broadly, with OP, ZK, ARB and MANTA among the leaders. ZKsync launched Airbender Prime, which it described as the first prover to demonstrate real-time Ethereum proving on a single GPU. The prover targets post-quantum security, uses hash-based STARKs, and pairs real-time proving with independent verification. In single-GPU testing, 99% of 7,200 consecutive mainnet blocks were proved in under 10 seconds. Expectations for stronger scaling and proving efficiency lifted the group.

Watchlist: OP, ZK, ARB, MANTA
Spot: OP / ZK / ARB / MANTA
Futures: OP / ZK / ARB / MANTA

3）Privacy Tokens Lead Again as ZEC, DASH and INJ Stand Out

Privacy tokens led again, with ZEC, DASH and INJ among the strongest names. Expectations around on-chain privacy and compliant use cases continued to warm, while project upgrades added to the bid and drew capital back into the privacy track. The group remains more elastic than majors, but if rate expectations rise, high-beta tokens may also retrace faster.

Watchlist: ZEC, DASH, INJ
Spot: ZEC / DASH / INJ
Futures: ZEC / DASH / INJ

2 Stock Highlights

1）Major Indexes Close Lower; Microsoft and Apple Set Closing Records

Major indexes closed lower on October 13. Mixed bank results and pressure on memory-chip stocks weighed on benchmarks, while Microsoft and Apple both rose to record closing highs. Apple touched $348.15 intraday. Capital split between mega-cap technology, financials and semiconductors, with rate and inflation pricing still the next key checkpoint.

Watchlist: MSFT, AAPL, QQQ
Spot: MSFT / AAPL / QQQ
Futures: MSFT / AAPL / QQQ

2）Applied Materials (AMAT) Turns Higher After the Close as EPIC Center Opens

Applied Materials (AMAT) closed down 2.88% on October 13 and turned higher after hours. The company formally opened its EPIC semiconductor R&D center, with expected total investment of $5 billion and about 600,000 square feet, aimed at accelerating advanced-chip innovation for the AI era. Intel, TSMC, Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung are expected to station research teams with company engineers and gain early access to new tools. The company said the center could shorten the path from chip-architecture concept to commercialization from the usual 10 to 12 years to as little as six years. The center is focused on R&D rather than mass production.

Watchlist: AMAT
Spot: AMAT
Futures: AMAT

3）Citigroup (C) Falls More Than 5% as Trading Revenue Misses

Citigroup (C) fell more than 5% on October 13. Third-quarter revenue reached $23.845 billion, up 8% year on year, while net income reached $5.245 billion, up 40%. Equity sales and trading revenue was $1.73 billion, below expectations of $1.78 billion. The earnings beat was not enough to offset valuation pressure from weaker trading revenue, and markets reassessed the durability of investment-banking and trading income.

Watchlist: C
Spot: C
Futures: C

4）AXT (AXTI) Closes Higher as Semiconductor Materials Draw Attention

AXT (AXTI) closed higher on October 13. The company supplies compound-semiconductor substrate materials. Expectations that AI and advanced chips will require higher-performance materials drew capital into related names. The next key variables are customer order visibility and the pace of capital spending.

Watchlist: AXTI
Spot: AXTI
Futures: AXTI

3 Today’s Preview

CPI is due on October 14, along with pre-market reports from banks and a semiconductor-equipment maker. Investors will watch the inflation path, financial-business quality and equipment demand.

1）CPI — October 14

The print will directly shape pricing for this month’s rate path and beyond. A hotter reading could push long-bond yields higher again and pressure QQQ, SPY and long-duration technology stocks. A milder reading would help ease high-rate concerns.

Watchlist: SPY, QQQ, TLT
Spot: SPY / QQQ / TLT
Futures: SPY / QQQ / TLT

2）BAC, Morgan Stanley (MS), BlackRock (BLK) — October 14 Pre-Market

Consensus points to BAC EPS of about $1.10 and revenue of about $30.6 billion; MS EPS of about $2.92–$2.93 and revenue of about $19.9 billion; and BLK EPS of about $14.3–$14.34. Investors will focus on net interest income, investment-banking fees, asset-management fees and full-year guidance.

Watchlist: BAC, MS, BLK
Spot: BAC / MS / BLK
Futures: BAC / MS / BLK

3）ASML — October 14 Pre-Market

Consensus points to EPS of about $10.76. Investors will watch EUV equipment orders, visibility into AI-related capital spending and full-year shipment guidance.

Watchlist: ASML
Spot: ASML
Futures: ASML