The Prime Daily: 22 September 2026

Authored By Prime Research | Published at: Sep 22, 2026 09:03 AM IST

Open Free Demat Account

Tech and AI Rally Push Nasdaq to Record Close as Oil Slides and Trade Hopes Rise

A rally in artificial intelligence and semiconductor names drove a strong session on Wall Street, lifting the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite to its first record close since June. The S&P 500 climbed 1.5% for its best day since August 4, the Nasdaq jumped 2.3%, and the Dow Jones added 0.7%.

Meta Platforms led the megacaps, surging more than 11%. Chipmakers rallied hard – Intel gained 12%, and Advanced Micro Devices rose roughly 10%, pushing AMD’s market capitalisation past $1 trillion for the first time. Nvidia added 2%, and fibre-optic supplier Corning advanced nearly 6%.

Sentiment was helped by a sharp pullback in crude prices. Brent crude dropped more than 3%, on hopes that diplomatic efforts could ease disruptions to Middle Eastern crude shipments. Saudi Aramco loaded roughly 14 million barrels onto seven VLCCs, pointing to a partial recovery in loadings after an earlier attack disrupted flows through the kingdom’s east-west pipeline to the Red Sea.

The 10-year Treasury yield also eased, tracking the move in oil.

Risk appetite was further supported by upbeat signals from the U.S. and China following preliminary weekend talks covering trade, investment, and artificial intelligence. Markets are now looking to a higher-profile meeting later this week that investors expect to extend the U.S.-China trade truce currently due to expire in November.

Attention is also building around an upcoming diplomatic summit expected to draw major global leaders and technology executives to discuss cross-border AI cooperation.

On the geopolitical front, President Trump said he would “probably” be open to meeting Iranian President Pezeshkian on the sidelines of this week’s UN General Assembly, and is also expected to meet with leaders of other Gulf states — moves seen as raising the odds of a broader diplomatic breakthrough that could help relieve the pressure on global energy supply.

The rupee extended its winning streak to a third consecutive session, appreciating 6 paise to close at 95.81 against the US dollar. Easing crude oil prices and positive domestic equity-market sentiment supported the currency.

Nifty extended its winning streak to four consecutive sessions, gaining 67 points to close at 23,414 yesterday. Nifty faces crucial resistance at the 23,600 level; a sustained move above it would confirm a short-term bullish trend reversal. On the downside, 23,363 and 23,100 remain the key support levels to watch.

Indian markets are likely to open higher, tracking a record Wall Street rally led by tech and semiconductor stocks amid easing oil prices and rising trade-truce hopes.

Disclaimer

At HDFC SKY*, we take utmost care and due diligence in curating and presenting news and market-related content. However, inadvertent errors or omissions may occasionally occur.
If you have any concerns, questions, or wish to point out any discrepancies in our content, please feel free to write to us at content@hdfcsec.com.
Please Note: The information shared is intended solely for informational purposes and does not make any investment recommendations.
HDFC SKY from HDFC Securities, one of most trusted trading platforms in India, has been recognized with the *Next-Gen Digi Content Awards 2025-26.

Markets