Good morning and welcome to Markets Desk.
The U.S. economy came in stronger than expected in the third quarter of two thousand twenty six, with real GDP expanding at an annual rate of three point four percent, up sharply from two point two percent the prior quarter. Investment and consumer spending drove the acceleration, though the PCE price index rose half a percent in September alone, putting the annual inflation rate at three point seven percent — a reminder that this growth is not coming without a price tag attached.
Staying with the consumer picture, personal income rose fifty-four point five billion dollars in September, a modest zero point two percent gain, while personal consumption expenditures climbed a much hotter zero point five percent. That gap between income growth and spending growth is worth watching — Americans are spending faster than they are earning, which adds a layer of caution to an otherwise robust headline number.
On the semiconductors front, ASE Technology posted a standout third quarter, reporting net revenues of two hundred forty-four billion, one hundred sixty-one million New Taiwan dollars — a forty-five percent jump year-over-year and roughly twenty-eight percent higher than the prior quarter. Net income attributable to shareholders came in at nearly twenty-seven billion New Taiwan dollars, signaling that advanced packaging demand tied to AI infrastructure remains firmly in expansion mode.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
