Wall Street edges up as AI enthusiasm eases worries over higher oil prices, yields

[BENGALURU] Wall Street’s main stock indices were steady at the open on Friday (Sep 25) as artificial intelligence optimism offset worries regarding high oil prices and rising US Treasury yields, while investors monitored chances of an agreement to end the Middle East conflict.

At 9.59 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 226.73 points or 0.44 per cent to 51,576.71, the S&P 500 gained 22.49 points or 0.29 per cent to 7,726.62, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 109.38 points or 0.41 per cent to 27,048.75.

Microsoft shares rose 3 per cent and were the biggest boost to the S&P 500 after the software giant unveiled several new capabilities in its Copilot app, including a coding tool and an always-on AI agent.

Chip makers Micron and Marvell Technology gained about 1 per cent each, while Nvidia was marginally higher.

AI-related optimism was a key driver this week, aided by Meta’s Muse and its integrated device, Charm, gaining traction among young consumers. Some analysts pointed to it as a product of the massive spending on the technology.

The stock eased 2.8 per cent from gains earlier this week.

“The amount of money being deployed into the economy from AI investment is just so strong, and we haven’t even seen the productivity piece of it,” said Jamie Harris, managing partner at Harris Financial Group.

“There’s a little bit of that the market is weighing into the valuation and that’s one of the reasons why you really can’t get much of a sell-off.”

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors declined, and were offset by a 1 per cent gain in technology – the week’s best-performing sector. Both the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq were set for weekly advances.

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A report that US and Iranian negotiators continued to explore a phased path out of the war, which would involve Teheran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Washington lifting its economic blockade, helped market sentiment.

Optimism, however, was capped by inflation worries driven by prolonged Iran and Ukraine conflicts and soaring government debt. Brent crude prices hovered over US$100 a barrel and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note was at 5.1 per cent.

Traders now see a 64 per cent chance that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates by at least 25 basis points in October, up from around 50 per cent earlier this week, the CME Group’s FedWatch tool showed.

Remarks from policymakers such as John Williams, Jeffrey Schmid and Beth Hammack are anticipated later in the day.

With the US-China summit in focus, US President Donald Trump said he had a “very productive meeting” with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump also made it clear to Xi that Chinese help for Iran was unacceptable, said the US ambassador to China.

Akamai Technologies surged 8 per cent after an US$11.6 billion cloud services deal with AI leader Anthropic. People jumped 8 per cent after a report said MGM Resorts International was discussing a bid for the online services company.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.27-to-1 ratio on the New York Stock Exchange, and by a 1.18-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted three new 52-week highs and 27 new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 24 new highs and 80 new lows. REUTERS