The Nasdaq stock exchange reached an all-time high, increasing despite concerns regarding AI safety risks, high tech valuations, and geopolitical tensions related to the United States' involvement in Iran. On Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite index rose by 0.45 percent, bringing its year-to-date gains to over 17 percent. The Nasdaq 100 index, which tracks 100 leading companies, increased by 0.82 percent. The S&P 500 index, a widely used measure of the US stock market, closed nearly unchanged.
Monolithic Power Systems, a manufacturer based in Florida, and Canadian e-commerce company Shopify were among the top gainers, with increases of 8.1 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively. Micron Technology, a leading memory chip manufacturer, rose by 5 percent. Nvidia, the world's most valuable company, saw a gain of 0.7 percent, while Apple increased by 0.2 percent. Meta Platforms, which experienced an 11.4 percent rise on Monday due to interest in its new AI assistant Muse, fell by 0.63 percent.
In Asia, major stock markets opened higher on Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 and South Korea's Kospi up approximately 1.4 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively. Conversely, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened lower, declining by more than 0.7 percent.
Oil prices remained stable on Tuesday after a more than 3 percent drop the previous day, attributed to improved oil flows from the Gulf and prospects for renewed diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran. Brent crude futures were trading at $99.18 per barrel as of 01:00 GMT.
US President Donald Trump stated that US officials had a "very good" meeting with Iranian representatives during the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He indicated that US-Iranian discussions would continue in the near future. Jay Goldberg, a senior analyst at Seaport Research Partners, noted that signs of diplomatic progress had shifted investor focus back to the potential profitability of AI after significant investments in the sector. He commented on the excitement surrounding Muse as a promising consumer use case for AI.