[New York Stock Exchange] Oil Prices and Treasury Yields Fall... Nasdaq Hits Record High

Nasdaq Jumps 2.26%
Global Oil Prices Fall Across the Board
Hopes Rise for U.S.-Iran Diplomatic Resolution

On September 21 local time, all three major indexes on the New York Stock Exchange closed higher. Amid declining international oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields, technology stocks rallied, pushing the Nasdaq index to a record high since June.

At the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow) rose by 366.19 points (0.71%) from the previous trading day to close at 52,048.83. The S&P 500 index, which focuses on large-cap stocks, climbed 114.20 points (1.49%) to 7,764.70, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 599.54 points (2.26%) to finish at 27,122.09.

This day, the decline in oil prices supported investor sentiment. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for October delivery dropped 4.5% from the previous session to 95.78 dollars per barrel. On the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent crude for November delivery fell 3.4% from the previous session to 100.34 dollars per barrel.

The stabilization is interpreted as stemming from expectations that the United States and Iran might seek a diplomatic solution. U.S. President Donald Trump expressed that a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the United Nations (UN) General Assembly this week is "probably open."

However, it remains uncertain whether the downward trend in oil prices will continue. Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research, pointed out in a report that the longer energy prices remain high, the stronger the case becomes for further tightening, and the risk of secondary inflationary effects increases. As the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate last week for the first time in over three years, the market is closely watching the moves of oil prices and Treasury yields.

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield dropped by over 4 basis points (1bp=0.01 percentage points) to 4.949%, while the 30-year Treasury yield stood at 5.282%. As the burden of rising oil prices and Treasury yields, which weighed on the U.S. stock market last week, has significantly eased, investor appetite for risk assets has expanded.

The rally in technology stocks was especially notable. Meta gained over 11% as its new artificial intelligence (AI) agent "Muse" showed signs of an early hit, ranking high in mobile application popularity. Among AI-related stocks, Intel rose 12.14%, AMD 9.95%, and Qualcomm 9.29%, all recording eye-catching gains. Google advanced 1.55% after revealing the price and specifications of its high-end notebook equipped with AI features, called "Googlebook."

Among media stocks, it was reported that Paramount Skydance had settled lawsuits brought by 12 state attorneys general and the Writers Guild of America regarding its planned acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. Although the obstacle blocking the completion of the acquisition was removed, Paramount's share price fell by about 3%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.