Stocks rise on AI buzz, drop in oil prices

Hong Kong, Sept 22, 2026 (AFP) AFP

Stock markets climbed on Tuesday as the success of Meta's new AI agent and US-China talks on artificial intelligence fanned a tech-led rally.

Facebook owner Meta surged 11 percent, Bloomberg reported, after its free AI agent Muse topped download charts following its release earlier this month.

Meta said Muse -- which can book travel, send emails and make purchases -- was built for users with no technical background and is designed to work the way people already message each other.

"Meta's Muse might well be the consumer-facing manifestation of AI agents, in a way Claude Cowork and ChatGPT currently are the business-facing applications for now," said economist Michael Wan at MUFG.

Chinese tech giant Alibaba also unveiled what it hailed as the country's most powerful AI chip at its annual Apsara Conference, along with plans to boost data centre capacity.

The firm, which runs some of China's biggest online shopping platforms, including Taobao, has been ploughing tens of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence.

Asian markets were mostly in the green, with South Korea's tech-rich Kospi and the Taiex in Taiwan -- home to chipmaking titan TSMC -- cooling after posting gains well above one percent in morning trading.

London, Paris and Frankfurt were all up.

Traders are also looking to Washington ahead of a summit on Thursday between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, expected to focus on trade between the world's top economies.

The simmering US-China trade war is a key concern: while both sides have maintained a tariff truce for nearly a year, they have yet to secure a lasting agreement.

- AI race -

US and Chinese economic officials met Sunday in New York for closely watched talks on trade and artificial intelligence to lay the groundwork for the meeting.

China's top trade negotiator He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed creating a communication channel for AI concerns, with warnings of an AI apocalypse hanging heavy as both countries race for technological supremacy.

Falling oil prices also rallied optimism on trading floors.

Crude prices dropped around four percent on Monday after Trump signalled he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, who will travel to New York for the UN General Assembly this week.

Stephen Innes, analyst at Quintex Intel noted that the world's top crude exporter Saudi Arabia is "finding ways to put oil back onto the water".

A lightning offensive by pro-Iranian Houthis in recent weeks has seen the Yemeni fighters seize control of strategic coastal areas overlooking the Bab al-Mandeb Strait from Saudi-backed government forces.

The gains cement the hold of Iran and its allies on the two waterways that the wider Gulf, including Riyadh, relies on to ship out its oil.

"Saudi Arabia is using its enormous logistical flexibility to work around a badly damaged export map" and has "pivoted aggressively back toward its Persian Gulf export system," Innes said.

But the benchmark international contract, Brent crude, remained above the symbolic $100 mark on Tuesday.

"Oil remains one diplomatic misstep away from rebuilding its geopolitical premium," Innes said.

- Key figures at around 0715 GMT -

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.7 percent at $97.42 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $101.85

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 25,077.21

Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,952.128 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: closed for a holiday

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 10,764.40

Dollar/yen: UP at 157.71 yen from 157.40 yen on Monday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1463 from $1.1466

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3368 from $1.3370