EL7.AI
ForexMedium•21 October 2026•
3 min read

Nasdaq Composite rises 1.05% as Super Micro AI outlook lifts sentiment

Key Facts

1The Nasdaq Composite rose 278.04 points, or 1.05%, to close at 26,702.86.
2Super Micro shares jumped 9.6% after it forecast quarterly revenue and a profit margin above Wall Street estimates.
3U.S. commercial crude inventories fell by 3.1 million barrels to 412.5 million barrels, about 3% below the five-year average.
4U.S. crude production fell by 410 thousand barrels per day to 13,269 thousand, compared with 13,679 thousand the previous week.
5West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $97.15 a barrel, down 67 cents, or 0.7%.

The Nasdaq Composite ended the October 21 session up 278.04 points, or 1.05%, at 26,702.86, according to Reuters, as Super Micro's forecasts bolstered confidence in demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company's shares jumped 9.6% after it forecast quarterly revenue and a profit margin above Wall Street estimates. Information technology led the S&P 500's major sectors, rising 1.6%. Netflix shares, meanwhile, fell 5.3%. The decline followed the company's fourth-quarter earnings forecast that fell short of market estimates, according to Reuters. The stock's drop capped gains in the communication services sector.

In energy markets, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its October 21 report that commercial crude inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, "fell by 3.1 million barrels to 412.5 million barrels" in the week ended October 16. That left inventories about 3% below the five-year average. The draw exceeded analysts' forecast of 820,000 barrels, according to a survey cited by Investing.com. Total U.S. commercial petroleum inventories fell by 8.5 million barrels during the week, according to the agency. Gasoline inventories fell to 205.3 million barrels from 208.3 million the previous week, a draw of 3.0 million barrels. Distillate inventories, meanwhile, rose to 104.3 million barrels from 102.6 million, an increase of 1.7 million barrels.

The crude inventory draw coincided with a decline in U.S. production to 13,269 thousand barrels per day from 13,679 thousand the previous week, a drop of 410 thousand barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration. Crude imports also fell to 5,758 thousand barrels per day from 6,049 thousand, down 291 thousand barrels per day. Refinery crude inputs rose to 16,649 thousand barrels per day from 16,615 thousand, an increase of 34 thousand barrels per day. Refinery utilization stood at 93.4%, down 0.1 percentage point, according to Investing.com. Over the four weeks through October 16, petroleum products supplied averaged 21.1 million barrels per day, up 3.2% from a year earlier, according to the agency.

Oil settled mixed on Wednesday, October 21, with Brent crude futures ending trading at $108.82 a barrel, up 3 cents, or 0.03%, according to Reuters. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude closed at $97.15 a barrel, down 67 cents, or 0.7%. In the U.S. economic backdrop, seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims totaled 199,000 in the week ended October 10, according to the Labor Department. Claims rose by 1,000 from the previous week's revised reading of 198,000. The Federal Reserve holds its next Federal Open Market Committee meeting on October 27 and 28, according to its official calendar. A press conference follows the meeting.