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Nasdaq 100 index posted highest-ever closing price on Tue, Sept 22, also breaching 30,800 level for first time ever!
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predict another 21.4% potential gains for Nasdaq 100 over next 12 months
Meta's AI Agent - Muse - surged in popularity and sent AI stocks soaring
Alibaba launched Zhenwu V900 - what it calls China's most powerful AI chip - further stoking AI buzz
Thu, Sept 24: AI tensions a key focal point at Trump-Xi summit; Big Tech CEOs to attend state dinner
Scroll down to see 10 US-listed AI stocks that could see boost on positive news from Trump-Xi summit, along with Wall Street's 12-month forecasts (analysts surveyed by Bloomberg)
The NAS100 index has hit a new record high!
Yesterday (Tuesday, September 22nd), the tech-heavy index secured its highest-ever closing price - its first new all-time peak since June 2nd.
The NAS100 also yesterday breached the 30,800 price level for the first time in its history, and is still holding above that psychologically-important level at the time of writing on this Wednesday, September 23rd.
The big question now is …
Can NAS100 climb even higher?
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predict another 21.4% in potential upside for the Nasdaq 100 index over the next 12 months.
Why is the NAS100 index soaring?
1) Meta's Muse Agent Takes Off
Back on September 8th, Meta launched Muse - an AI agent that can book appointments, shop online, and handle everyday tasks for you.
Within days of its launch, Muse shot to the #1 free app on both the US Apple App Store and Google Play, racking up over 902,000 downloads in its first six days.
The buzz sent chip stocks surging, along with Meta, so far this week:
2) Alibaba's New AI Chip: China's Most Powerful
Also this week, specifically on Tuesday, September 22nd, Alibaba unveiled the Zhenwu V900 - what it calls China's most powerful AI chip.
With mass production set for Q1 2027, this new chip delivers 3 times the performance of its predecessor and can be clustered in groups of up to 500,000 units to train frontier AI models.
Alibaba also announced a target of 20 gigawatts of global data center capacity by 2032, in tandem with its pledge to spend over US$ 53 billion over 3 years to supercharge its AI capabilities.
NOTE: Alibaba already boasts of the world's most-downloaded AI model - 3 billion over the past 6 months for its Qwen family of open-weight AI models.
Although not a constituent of the Nasdaq 100 index ...
Alibaba further stoked optimism surrounding the AI trade, with its US-listed stocks climbing 2.7% so far this week.
3) Optimism surrounding Trump-Xi summit
As we covered in this past Monday's "3 Assets to Watch" Market Pulse report, the presidents of the world's 2 biggest economies are set to meet on Thursday, Sept 24th - their first meeting in Washington DC since 2023.
Markets are already expecting some thawing of tensions, even as the US and China compete for global supremacy in the AI race.
Already, US and Chinese officials wrapped up 2 days of talks in New York on Sunday-Monday (Sept 20-21), with AI front and center.
According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent:
discussions were "very successful"
a shared AI alert system has been proposed between the two countries
another round of AI talks is on the table in about two months (Nov 2026), possibly at APEC in Shenzhen.
READ MORE (published Mon, Sept 21): 5 key themes for Trump-Xi summit
Also on Thursday, President Donald Trump will treat President Xi Jinping to a lavish state dinner at the White House, also to be attended by these tech and AI luminaries:
Nvidia CEO - Jensen Huang
Meta CEO - Mark Zuckerberg
OpenAI CEO - Sam Altman
OpenAI President Greg Brockman
Microsoft CEO - Satya Nadella
Alphabet CEO - Sundar Pichai
Tesla CEO - Elon Musk
Qualcomm CEO - Cristiano Amon
Dell CEO - Michael Dell
Amazon Chairman - Jeff Bezos
Apple Chairman - Tim Cook
READ MORE:
published Sept 1: How might AAPL stocks perform under John Ternus?
published July 17: Apple vs. Nvidia - Which will end 2026 as "world's most valuable company"?
Key caveats: Market watchers and commentators say any deal is likely to be more style than substance - unlikely to be significant enough to provide a sustained boost to AI stocks. The Pentagon's blacklist of Chinese companies also remains an irritant in the background.
Still, even a partial thaw in the US-China AI race could meaningfully reduce risk for the companies that are spearheading this life-changing technology - potentially boosting their stock prices further.
US-China AI dialogue: Talks to impact stocks?
Stock | How It Could Benefit | YTD % Performance | 12-Month Potential Upside* |
Export controls have locked Nvidia out of selling its most advanced chips to China — a relaxation of those rules, or a formal AI framework, could reopen one of its biggest former markets. | +22.7% | +41% | |
Alibaba's cloud and AI business is global in ambition but constrained by US-China tensions — a friendlier environment could accelerate its Qwen AI model's international adoption and ease data-sharing restrictions. | -20.6% | +56.5% | |
Meta's open-source Llama models are already used by Chinese developers, and a formal AI cooperation framework could legitimize and expand that cross-border usage, boosting Meta's influence as a global AI standard-setter. | +11.6% | +3.8% | |
Qualcomm generates a large share of revenue from China-based smartphone and device makers — reduced tech tensions could ease licensing friction and open the door to deeper AI chip partnerships, with the company already making inroads into data centers. | +15.9% | +0.6% | |
As a key supplier of chip-making equipment, Applied Materials has faced export restrictions on sales to China - any easing of semiconductor-related controls as part of an AI deal would directly benefit its order book. | +83.8% | +39.8% | |
Intel has significant manufacturing and sales exposure to China, and a more stable AI relationship could help it compete more freely against domestic Chinese chip rivals in that market. | +235.7% | already exceeded analysts' average 12-month target price by 4.3% | |
Microsoft's Azure cloud and OpenAI partnership give it AI infrastructure that Chinese enterprises want access to - improved diplomatic ties could lower the regulatory barriers to cross-border cloud and AI services. | +3% | +15.6% | |
Broadcom's networking switches reportedly hold a penetration rate of up to 90% in China's state-owned data centers - a diplomatic thaw could shield it from informal guidance by China's SASAC to reduce reliance on its hardware, preserving a dominant but currently threatened revenue stream. | +5.3% | +46% | |
PDD's Temu platform operates globally and its AI-driven logistics and recommendation systems could benefit from reduced cross-border data restrictions under a cooperative AI framework. | -29.1% | +38.6% | |
JD's AI-powered supply chain and logistics operations have global ambitions - a less adversarial tech environment could ease its path to international expansion and attract more US institutional investment. | -4.6% | +42.4% |
*12-Month Potential Upside = % difference between Tue, Sept 22nd closing price vs. average analysts' 12-month forecasts as surveyed by Bloomberg
The US-China AI dialogue is still early-stage, and no grand deal is guaranteed this week.
But even small steps - like a shared AI incident alert system or a pause on new sanctions - could reduce the risk premium baked into many of these stocks i.e. potentially sending their share prices higher.
READ MORE (published Monday, September 21st): 3 Assets to Watch this week, including the Chinese Yuan and HKTECH index
DISCLAIMER: This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instruments or digital assets. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Your ability to access or use any products or services mentioned may be subject to the laws and regulatory requirements of your jurisdiction.
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