Bitcoin, Korea’s Kospi and Nasdaq futures rally as China GDP beats estimates

By CoinDesk03:39 (UTC), 19 October 2026 Updated

Financial markets are a sea of green on Monday as upbeat China data and lower oil prices revive investor risk appetite.

Starting with bitcoin. The leading cryptocurrency by market value was trading around $82,500 at the time of writing, up 0.7% since midnight UTC and 1.3% over the past 24 hours. Nasdaq futures rose more than 1%, alongside a 1.8% gain in Japan’s Nikkei and a 0.6% advance in South Korea’s Kospi. Those markets took a beating last week, led by losses in AI-related shares.

Elsewhere, Chinese stocks were up 0.3%. Gold was largely unchanged near $4,180, while the Dollar Index held near Friday’s lows, below 102.

China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.5% year on year in the third quarter, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Monday. That was faster than the second quarter’s 4.3% pace. Other data also pointed to stronger domestic demand in the world’s second-largest economy. Retail sales of consumer goods rose 1.1%, more than double the 0.5% increase expected and up from 0.4% the previous month.

China is the world’s factory, its second-largest economy and a major importer of industrial commodities. Strong economic data from the country therefore tends to encourage risk-taking across financial markets.

The rebound is also consistent with the VIX’s historical tendency to normalize after Friday spikes, a pattern that has often coincided with steadier equity markets.

Oil prices fell on both sides of the Atlantic, reversing some of last week’s gains. Reuters attributed the decline to expectations that President Donald Trump’s Russia waiver would boost supply. Still, geopolitical risks in the Middle East persist.

A sustained decline in oil could ease inflation fears, clearing the way for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. As of this writing, the central bank is expected to keep its benchmark borrowing cost unchanged in the 4.75% to 5% range this month. It raised rates by 25 basis points last month.