At the open on Wednesday, Sept 23, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 163.52 points, or 0.32%, to 51,700.17; the S&P 500 fell 9.37 points, or 0.12%, to 7,755.46; the Nasdaq Composite fell 50.81 points, or 0.19%, to 27,193.46.

Against a backdrop of industry-wide falling deposit rates, smaller banks show divergent deposit pricing: some have raised deposit rates while others have cut mid‑to‑long‑term fixed deposits, with isolated term‑rate inversions and inconsistent tenor adjustments within the same banks. Zeng Gang, head of Tianfu Liyan Financial Research Institute, says these are largely stage‑specific, structural liability‑management moves and do not indicate a broad deposit‑rate hiking cycle. He expects deposit rates overall are most likely to remain on a steady‑to‑lower path, with greater cross‑institution and cross‑tenor dispersion; competition will shift from pure rate battles toward improving client service, expanding settlement balances, optimizing product mix and lowering aggregate funding costs.

A participant in the talks said Volkswagen, IG Metall and VW’s works council will meet on Sept. 30 to review the 2024 labor agreement. The meeting follows concerns about Volkswagen’s planned new round of layoffs in Germany.