(Sept 23): A renewed rally in chipmakers drove the Nasdaq 100 toward its first record since June, with the stock market also bolstered by hopes for diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran.

Equities bounced as President Donald Trump said US officials had a “very good” meeting with Iranian envoys in New York. A closely watched gauge of semiconductor powerhouses like Micron Technology Inc and Nvidia Corp climbed for a sixth straight day. The advance in tech firms offset a selloff in bank shares. Brent crude dropped to around US$99. Bonds stabilised.

Trump said the three-hour meeting — held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting — was “very productive” and that another was being planned for the near future. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended a meeting with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Axios reported. 

The US administration has signaled a renewed effort to bring the war in the Middle East to a close, with Trump claiming in his speech that the conflict will end just after November’s US midterm elections.

“Focus will stay on geopolitics, and if there’s any confirmation of progress towards a ceasefire between the US and Iran, look for oil and yields to fall further and for stocks to rally,” said Tom Essaye at The Sevens Report.

Wall Street is also gearing up for this week’s summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which will offer the leaders of the world’s two largest economies a chance to improve personal ties and look for common ground on contentious topics.

Meta Platforms Inc’s chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg is set to attend a White House state dinner for the Chinese leader, according to a person familiar with the planning. He’ll join Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Qualcomm Inc. head Cristiano Amon. OpenAI President Greg Brockman will also attend, the ChatGPT maker said Monday, alongside CEO Sam Altman. 

Microsoft Corp CEO Satya Nadella will be there as well, according to a person familiar with the matter. On Friday, US officials said Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk and Alphabet Inc chief Sundar Pichai will be at the event. Apple executive chairman Tim Cook is also set to attend the dinner on Sept 24, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

Traders also kept a close eye on the latest remarks from central bank officials.

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond president Tom Barkin warned it could take time for inflationary shocks to wane. His Boston counterpart Susan Collins said she supported last week’s decision to raise rates, adding it would help bring inflation back to the target.

Uploaded by Isabelle Francis