Stock exchanges, Milan (+1.1%) record over 50,000 points. Cerebras boom on Nasdaq debut

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The Trump-Xi summit instils a climate of greater confidence in the stock markets, which continue to make new records while keeping in the background the risks linked to the prolonging conflict between the US, Israel and Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Piazza Affari closes one step away from the historical record of 6 March 2000 (50,109 points) at the height of the dot-com bubble. In fact, the index marked a +1.15% at 50,050

According to the White House, US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed on the need to keep the Strait of Hormuz open and on the fact that Iran cannot go nuclear. Beijing, however, held the line on Taiwan, saying that if not handled well, the issue could lead to conflict. Xi then told the CEOs of Nvidia, Tesla and Apple (who were present at the meeting with 17 other business leaders) that China will open up "even more".

The optimism about the prospects for artificial intelligence (on the eve of a new record for Nasdaq and S&P on Wall Street in the wake of the tech sector, with Nvidia that continues to update the highs and added 100 billion in capitalisation in one session) thus pushes up the stock markets and puts the risk of an increase in interest rates on the back burner, at least for the moment because of the energy shock. In the US, after the inflation numbers, the producer price reading also showed the effects of higher crude oil prices. Other indications came from import prices, which rose more than expected in April (+1.9% versus +0.9% expected). At this point, the market not only expects no cuts by the Fed this year, but is starting to bet on possible increases in the cost of money.

Investors are focused on the news coming from the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with the tycoon inviting China's president to the US on 24 September on the eve of the mid-term elections. At stake are not only tariffs and trade relations between the two superpowers, but also positions on the conflict with Iran andthe thorny topic of Taiwan, which in turn brings the semiconductor issue back to the fore. The island, according to industry estimates, produces around 90% of the world's most sophisticated semiconductors, with the colossus Tsmc based there. It is no coincidence that Trump is accompanied by a large delegation of ceos with number ones from the major AI giants, including Elon Musk and Tim Cook, and optimism about the industry on the eve of the event was heightened by the news that Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, also joined the US president on his trip to China.

Wall Street closed the session with records for some indices: the Dow Jones rose 0.75 per cent, returning above 50,000 for the first time since February, to 50,063.46 points, while the Nasdaq gained 0.88 per cent to a record 26,635.22. The S&P 500 also climbed to a high of 7,501.39 points. The stock markets benefited from euphoria over Cisco Systems's better-than-expected accounts (and 4,000 job cuts) and news of the Beijing summit between Trump and Xi. Nvidia (+4%) was authorised by the US to sell its powerful H200 to about 10 Chinese companies. Cisco posted +46% in the last two months, Amazon +28% and Nvidia +30%. Record-breaking debut for Cerebras System on the Nasdaq, in a positive session for Wall Street with the Dow Jones back above 50,000 points. Shares of the artificial intelligence chip maker rose 89 per cent on the first day of trading, after raising $5.55 billion in what is Wall Street's largest IPO of the year. Wall Street's major indices moved higher, with the Dow Jones back above 50,000 points and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite immediately updating their intraday records, after a solid quarterly report from Cisco Systems. The software giant posted third quarter results and forecasts that exceeded market expectations and announced nearly 4,000 job cuts. Together with Cisco, Amazon and Nvidia are supporting the Dow Jones recovery. Cerebras Systems: the artificial intelligence chip maker's shares jumped 90% after raising $5.55 billion in what is Wall Street's largest IPO of the year. From $185 per share at the start of the session, the company has since traded near $350. The IPO was an early test of Wall Street's interest in new listings of companies in the AI sector, ahead of the highly anticipated debuts of OpenAI and Anthropic, which could follow in the footsteps of Elon Musk's SpaceX and go public as early as this year.