# U.S. Inflation Accelerates to 3.7% as AI Shares and Asian Markets Slide By Enna Lee Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/32171 Published: 2026-10-15T01:46:07.000Z Updated: 2026-10-15T01:46:07.000Z Section: Investing > Gasoline rose 9.1% in September, while CoreWeave and Oracle fell 15.5% and 8.8% in Wednesday’s U.S. session. U.S. stocks fell after September inflation accelerated to 3.7% annually, while Asian markets slid in early trading as investors reassessed borrowing-cost risks for AI infrastructure companies. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.6% from August and 3.7% over the 12 months through September, after a 3.4% annual increase in August. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, advanced 0.3% for the month and 2.6% over the year, up from 2.4% in August. Annual headline and core readings were higher than estimates of 3.6% and 2.5%, respectively. The 0.6% monthly headline reading matched its estimate. Gasoline prices climbed 9.1% for the month, contributing more than half of the overall CPI increase. The energy index rose 5.2%. At the Oct. 14 close, the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 1.9% to 26,692.87, while the S&P 500 lost 1.1% to 7,718.94. CoreWeave sank 15.5%, and Oracle slipped 8.8%. AI infrastructure companies need substantial capital for data-center construction and equipment purchases. Higher borrowing costs can make expansion more expensive and weigh on valuations tied to expected future growth. Asian markets were lower in early trading. At 8:52 p.m. ET Oct. 14 (00:52 UTC Oct. 15), the MSCI Asia-Pacific index excluding Japan was down 1.2%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 had fallen 1.3% and South Korea’s KOSPI was down 5.6%. Those were intraday readings, not closing levels. The KOSPI had already dropped 5.46% to 6,035.35 on Oct. 13, before the U.S. CPI release, amid concerns about AI valuations and chip competition. Its decline later widened to 7% on Oct. 15, extending [the slide in South Korean stocks](). Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone, said, “Asia faces another difficult session.” The Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting is scheduled for Oct. 27-28. ## Links in this article - [the slide in South Korean stocks](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/investing/32154)