Equities Rise Intraday Amid Cisco-Led Tech Rally; Trump-Xi Summit in Focus
US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday amid a post-earnings rally in Cisco Systems (CSCO), while markets tracked updates of a high-stakes meeting between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.8% at 26,614 after midday Thursday, while the S&P 500 rose 0.7% to 7,496.6. Both indexes hit fresh record highs in the previous session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.7% at 50,054.1 intraday Thursday.Most sectors were in the green, led by technology's 1.6% jump, while materials saw the biggest drop.Cisco shares were up nearly 13%, the biggest gainer on the S&P 500 and the Dow. Late Wednesday, Cisco's fiscal third-quarter results exceeded Wall Street's estimates, while the networking equipment maker announced a restructuring plan that involves thousands of layoffs.Cisco's expanded hyperscaler partnerships are paying dividends for the company, as evidenced by management expectations for a surge in artificial intelligence orders, Morgan Stanley said in a note e-mailed Thursday.Nvidia (NVDA) followed Cisco on the Dow intraday, up 3.6%. About 10 Chinese companies have secured US clearance to purchase Nvidia's H200 AI chip, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang is accompanying Trump in his China trip, along with executives of several other major US tech companies.Xi told Huang and CEOs of Apple (AAPL), Tesla (TSLA) and other companies that China will "open wider" to doing business, news outlets reported.Apple shares were down 0.2% intraday, while Tesla rose 0.3%.Boeing (BA) is set to get an order for 200 jets from China, Fox News reported, citing Trump. The US planemaker's shares fell 3.7%, the biggest drop on the Dow.US Treasury yields were mixed intraday, with the 10-year rate down 2.6 basis points at 4.45% and the two-year rate little changed at 3.99%.Xi has pledged not to provide military equipment to Iran, CNN reported, citing Trump.The two leaders agreed that the crucial Strait of Hormuz should remain a free waterway and Iran shouldn't be able to exact payments for the use of shipping lanes, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a White House readout of the Trump-Xi talks."The market could be pinning too much hope on the US-China talks yielding some positive results on Iran," ING Bank said in a note. "Some hope that China could exert pressure on Iran to reach a deal with the US, to end the war and lead to a resumption of energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz."West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.4% at $101.37 a barrel intraday, while Brent edged down 0.2% to $105.46.In economic news, US retail sales in April rose for the third straight month, with analysts saying the increase largely reflected higher prices as the war in Iran kept fuel costs elevated."Surprisingly, firm underlying retail sales in April suggest another quarter of moderate consumer spending growth, though higher inflation is bound to take a toll," BMO Capital Markets said in a note. "Inflation pressures are mounting due to the Iran conflict and could take a larger toll on overall spending."Applied Materials (AMAT) is scheduled to report its latest quarterly financial results after the closing bell Thursday.Gold was down 0.4% at $4,687.30 per troy ounce, while silver fell 4.5% to $85.33 per ounce.
