On Wall Street, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit record highs as trading began, following new peaks in London and some Asian markets as US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on the eve of crisis talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Investors are looking ahead to a Federal Reserve meeting that observers expect will unveil a quarter-percentage point cut in borrowing costs, as well as earnings reports from tech heavyweights Meta, Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet after trading closes in New York.
“Risk appetite remained firm ahead of a busy 48-hour period for markets, during which major central banks will decide on interest rates, technology companies will report their quarterly results, and most importantly, Trump will meet Xi Jinping in a meeting expected to last three hours,” said City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are expected to keep interest rates stable this week.
Before his meeting with Xi, Trump indicated that a trade deal had been reached with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung. Ahead of his arrival in South Korea, Trump told reporters he expects “many issues will be resolved” during his first face-to-face meeting with Xi since returning to the White House this year. The two leaders will meet on Thursday in Busan, a southern port city not far from the APEC summit that Trump attended.
Geopolitical hopes have added to the already jubilant atmosphere on Wall Street, with highlights during Tuesday’s record day including a five percent jump for artificial intelligence giant Nvidia.
The company’s shares rose another 4.5 percent as trading picked up, with analysts saying the stock is benefiting from Trump saying he would talk to Xi about the company’s chips.
Benchmark stock indexes in Tokyo and Seoul hit record highs on Wednesday.
After Seoul closed, the United States and South Korea reached an agreement to maintain reciprocal tariffs at 15 percent and reduce duties on cars and auto parts.
Taipei gained more than one percent that day and Shanghai made a modest gain, while Hong Kong was closed for a holiday.
Shares of British drugmaker GSK rose 6.2 percent in London after it raised its full-year expectations for strong sales growth, according to company news.
Shares of Mercedes-Benz rose about 6 percent after the company reassured investors it is not facing immediate production halts due to microchip shortages, even as third-quarter net profit fell more than 30 percent due to Trump’s tariffs and slumping sales in China.
The price of copper hit a record high on Wednesday, with the metal also boosted by concerns about tight supply.
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