US Stock Prices Rise Ahead of US-China Summit

This week

The markets will later this week shift their focus more toward geopolitical events and developments. Global leaders will first travel to New York to attend the 81st United Nations General Assembly, where US President Donald Trump will address the assembly on Tuesday (September 22). Later this week, US President Trump and Chinese President Xi will attend a summit hosted by the USA. The two presidents are expected to discuss trade, AI and the chip industry, Taiwan, sanctions, and Iran, among other issues. Many company executives, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, SpaceX/Tesla’s Elon Musk, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, are also expected to attend the summit.

 

Stocks

MICRON

Micron share price gained 4.16% last week, ending above the $1,000 level as strong demand for memory chips continued to support the company amid continued demand related to AI. The company is also preparing to scale up its operations in India. Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said the company plans to significantly increase assembly and testing at its Sanand facility in Gujarat, with production expected to grow from tens of millions of chips in 2026 to hundreds of millions in 2027. Investors will next focus on Micron’s quarterly earnings, which are scheduled for September 30 after the US markets close.

INTEL

Intel share price rose 5.50% last week, as prices returned above the mark of $100. Intel’s stock price reacted positively to reports that South Korean memory-chip giant SK Hynix is in talks with Intel to potentially manufacture memory chips in the United States for the first time. The talks come as demand for memory chips continues to rise amid increased demand related to AI.

 

Commodities

 

Crude Oil

Crude oil price fell by more than 2% last week, pulling back below the level of $100. Crude oil fell as the US side insisted that it controls the Strait of Hormuz, with the US Navy accompanying more than 2000 ships through the strait to export more than 1 billion barrels of oil over the past few months. The US Secretary of Energy said that oil flows through the strait are a couple of million barrels per day lower than pre-war levels of around 20 million barrels per day. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia sought alternative channels to export its oil, as attacks by Yemen’s Houthis earlier damaged and disabled the East-West pipeline to the Red Sea.

Gold

Gold price rose 0.68% last week, ending the week in positive territory despite testing a fresh six-week low earlier in the week. Gold prices fell below $4,250 in the middle of the week after the US Fed announced its first rate hike since 2023, raising interest rates to 4% from the previous 3.75%. However, gold recovered toward the end of the week, reaching levels near the $4,400 mark. Later this week, gold prices will focus on a number of factors, including US President Trump’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, as well as the scheduled US-China Summit from Wednesday through Friday.

Cocoa

Cocoa prices dropped more than 10% last week as expectations for global supply improved following stronger-than-expected production data from Ivory Coast. The country’s cocoa regulator, Le Conseil du Café Cacao, said cocoa production reached 2.06 million metric tons between June 2025 and June 2026, compared with 1.58 million metric tons in the previous year, representing an increase of 30%. In addition, cocoa deliveries to Ivory Coast’s ports reached 2.14 million metric tons during the current marketing year, which began on October 1, 2025, and ran through September 13, 2026. This was 18% higher than the amount recorded during the same period a year earlier.

 

USD/JPY

USD/JPY price rose by more than 2% last week as the US dollar strengthened after the US Federal Reserve decided to raise its benchmark interest rate to 4%, up from the previous 3.75%. This was the Fed’s first interest rate hike since 2023. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan raised its interest rate to 1.25% on Friday, the highest level in Japan since 1995. However, the move did not result in a sustained strengthening of the Japanese yen. Later this week, the US dollar will focus on the US-China Summit (September 23–25).

 

Recap

Last week, the S&P 500 fell 0.08%, the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.94%, and the Dow Jones lost 1.69% as the US Federal Reserve increased its benchmark interest rate to 4% from the previous 3.75%, in its first hike since 2023. Gold ended the week higher, near the level of $4,400, recovering from its multi-week lows earlier in the week. The US dollar reacted positively to the Fed rate hike, sending EUR/USD to a fresh seven-week low. Crude oil prices pulled back below the level of $100 as the US continued to claim that oil was flowing through the Strait of Hormuz, while Saudi Arabia highlighted alternative channels for oil exports through Oman and the Strait of Hormuz.