Foreign Exchange Market Update

October 16, 2026

United States

Import and export prices in the U.S. both rose in September, according to a report the Labor Department released Friday. The Labor Department said import prices shot up by 1.1% in September after rising 0.5% in August. The annual rate of import price growth accelerated from 6.7% in August to 8.1% in September, reaching the fastest rate of growth since July 2022. The monthly increase in import prices partly reflected a spike in prices for fuel imports, which surged by 4.8% in September after dipping by 0.2% in August. However, prices for non-fuel imports also climbed by 0.7% in September after rising by 0.6% in August and have not declined monthly since August 2025.

Higher prices for capital goods, non-fuel industrial supplies and materials, consumer goods, excluding automotives, as well as automotive vehicles, parts and engines drove the increase in September. Meanwhile, the report said export prices also surged by 2.2% in September after jumping 1.2% in August. The Labor Department said the annual rate of export price growth accelerated from 9.3% in August to 11.6% in September, reflecting the biggest year-over-year increase since July 2022. The report said prices for agricultural exports spiked by 2.6% in September after rising by 0.4% in August, while prices for non-agricultural exports shot up by 2.1% in September after jumping by 1.3% in August. 10/16/2026 - 09:19:00 (RTTNews)

A report released by the Federal Reserve on Friday showed increased U.S. industrial production in September. The Fed said industrial production climbed by 0.7% in September following August’s 0.1% uptick. The increase in industrial production partly reflected a spike in utilities output, which surged by 3.5% in September after jumping by 1.5% in August.

Manufacturing output also rose by 0.3% in September after dipping by 0.2% in August, while mining output crept up by 0.2% in September after climbing by 0.5% in August. The Fed also said capacity utilization in the industrial sector increased from 76.4% in August to 76.9% in September. Capacity utilization in the utilities sector jumped to 73.8%, while capacity utilization in the mining and manufacturing sectors ticked up to 87.5% and 75.9%. 10/16/2026 - 09:32:00 (RTTNews)

Eurozone Industrial Output Drops for Third Month

Euro traded at 1.1247 against USD at 9:00 AM PST

Eurozone inflation rose to a three-year high in September due to the surge in energy prices. Inflation rose from 3.2% in August to 3.8% in September, marking it the highest since September 2023. Excluding energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, core inflation rose slightly from 2.4% in the previous month to 2.5%. Month-on-month, the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) gained 0.6%.

Among components of the HICP, energy prices showed the sharpest annual growth of 18.9%. The increase in food, alcohol and tobacco prices rose from 1.1% to 1.3%. Likewise, non-energy industrial goods prices gained 1.1%, following August's 1.2% increase. Services’ inflation rose from 3.0% in the previous month to 3.2%. 10/16/2026 - 05:13:00 (RTTNews)

Consumer price inflation in Italy accelerated in September to the highest level in three years amid soaring energy costs. Consumer price inflation climbed from 3.3% in August to 4.2% in September. Moreover, this was the highest inflation rate since September 2023, when prices rose 5.3%. Inflation based on regulated energy products rose notably from 18.6% to 25.8%, and that in non-regulated energy products quickened from 17.0% to 22.5%.

The annual price growth in unprocessed food accelerated from 3.8% to 5.5%, and transport-related services’ inflation rose from 0.8% to 1.6%. Excluding energy and unprocessed food, core inflation stood at 1.6% compared to 1.5% in August. Monthly, consumer prices moved up 0.7%. The EU measure of inflation was 4.2% in September, up from 3.2% in the previous month. Monthly, the HICP increased by 2.1% from 2.0%. 10/16/2026 - 06:49:00 (RTTNews)

Singapore Non-Oil Domestic Exports Jump 68.4%

Singapore's non-oil domestic exports (NODX) continued to expand sharply in September, driven by stronger demand for non-electronics. Non-oil domestic exports surged 68.4% from a year ago in September, much faster than the 46.1% in August. The growth in non-electronics quickened from 11.9% to 54.2%, primarily due to the lumpy exports of structures of ships and boats. Electronic NODX advanced 107.6% on the back of robust AI-related demand, driven mainly by disk media products, integrated circuits (IC), and personal computers (PC). During the first nine months of 2026, NODX grew 27.6% compared with the same period last year. 10/16/2026 - 02:46:00 (RTTNews)