Wall St opens higher as AI stocks advance, oil slides - Reuters

AI stocks lift Wall St as oil falls, Treasury yields decline | Reuters

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AI stocks lift Wall St as oil falls, Treasury yields decline

By

Johann M Cherianand

Tharuniyaa Lakshmi

September 21, 2026

5:38 AM EDT

Updated 1 hour ago

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!Bessent says the US and China had 'very successful' talks on trade, AI

* Summary
* Companies

* Indexes up: Dow 0.47%, S&P 0.92%, Nasdaq 1.48%
* AMD becomes latest chipmaker to reach $1 trillion valuation
* AI rebound lifts Nasdaq to over one-month high
* Oil pullback eases yields, boosts risk tolerance
* Fed's Goolsbee: Strong demand may be adding to US inflation

Sept 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose on ​Monday, powered by AI gains as Treasury yields eased and crude prices tumbled more than 3% to hit an 11-day low on hope of progress in Middle ‌East negotiations during the UN meeting this week.

Doomsday warnings from the leaders of AI giants a week ago had led to a selloff, but the mood seemed lighter as investors focused on signs that spending on developing the technology was still expanding.

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Chip companies such as Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab rose 9%. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), opens new tab surged 8.5% to become the latest chipmaker to reach $1 trillion in market valuation and Micron (MU.O), opens new tab also gained 3%.

Meta (META.O), opens new tab soared 6.2% to a ​more than seven-month high after brokerage Wells Fargo hiked its price target on the stock, while Accenture (ACN.N), opens new tab gained 3.5% after partnering with Anthropic to invest $2 ​billion in AI evaluation.

"The excitement in the build-out and adoption of AI has really driven a lot of the growth ⁠in corporate profits and a lot of the gains in the stock market over the past few years," said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for ​Northlight Asset Management.

"Is there going to be a trade-off between safety and productivity benefits? That argument is going to continue for many months to come, if ​not many years."

While Washington and Tehran continued to exchange new threats through the weekend, US President Donald Trump said he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is expected at the UN General Assembly in New York this week.

A fall in oil prices eased the pressure on equities as the 10-year US bond yield slipped below the critical ​5% mark.

Still, investors were wary of the interest-rate outlook after a recent pickup in inflation prompted the US Federal Reserve to raise rates for the first time ​in three years. Markets see a 50% chance of another hike next month, CME's FedWatch showed.

Commentary from at least 10 central bank policymakers is due this week.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 16, 2026. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon Purchase LicensingRights , opens new tab

Chicago Fed President Austan ‌Goolsbee said ⁠there was "no ambiguity" about the need for higher interest rates, with inflation pressures now moving beyond tariffs and energy prices to strong demand.

At 10:24 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab rose 241.25 points, or 0.47%, to 51,923.89, the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab gained 70.38 points, or 0.92%, to 7,720.88, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab added 393.21 points, or 1.48%, to 26,915.76.

Seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were trading higher. Communication services (.SPLRCL), opens new tab was in the lead with a 2.3% rise, while energy (.SPNY), opens new tab ​led declines.

A diplomatic breakthrough between the United ​States and Denmark over the weekend over ⁠the status of Greenland also aided sentiment and was likely to allay trade tensions between the countries.

US-listed shares of companies exposed to Greenland rose. Critical Metals (CRML.O), opens new tab soared 35%, while Greenland Mines (GRML.O), opens new tab and Greenland Energy (GLND.O), opens new tab each more than doubled in value.

The China-US summit on Thursday ​could touch upon topics including potentially extending the trade truce between the two superpowers, the Iran war, as well ​as regulation on ⁠AI advances.

Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng concluded talks on Sunday during which the US Treasury secretary proposed a new mechanism for AI safety notifications.

Bitcoin , a key marker for risk appetite, rose 5.3% to hit a more than seven-month high, lifting Coinbase (COIN.O), opens new tab and Strategy (MSTR.O), opens new tab 5% and 8%, respectively.

Paramount Skydance (PSKY.O), opens new tab gained 6.5% after a report said the ⁠company reached a ​settlement with California and other states suing to block its $110 billion merger with Warner Bros ​Discovery (WBD.O), opens new tab.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.61-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.78-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 4 new 52-week highs and 22 new lows, while the ​Nasdaq Composite recorded 30 new highs and 66 new lows.

Reporing by Johann M Cherian and Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Pooja Desai

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

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