Nasdaq Hits Record High, Up 17% This Year as AI Rally Outruns Iran War Fears
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · Sep 23
Nasdaq Hits Record High, Up 17% This Year as AI Rally Outruns Iran War Fears
3 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Sep 23
Summary
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.45% on Tuesday to a record close, extending its 2026 gain past 17% as tech shares kept climbing.
AI-linked names drove the move: the Nasdaq 100 jumped 0.82%, Monolithic Power Systems surged 8.1%, Shopify gained 7.1%, Micron rose 5%, and Nvidia added 0.7%.
Investor appetite strengthened after Meta’s new AI assistant Muse reignited hopes for consumer-facing AI profits, even after Meta itself slipped 0.63% following Monday’s 11.4% jump.
Oil steadied near $99.18 a barrel after a 3% drop the previous day, while Trump said US and Iranian officials had a “very good” UN meeting and would talk again soon.
The calmer energy backdrop helped Asian markets open mostly higher, with Japan’s Nikkei up about 1.4% and South Korea’s Kospi up 0.1%, though Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell more than 0.7%.