Global stock markets advanced on Monday as oil prices fell more than three percent after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled openness to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The drop in crude eased concerns about energy-driven inflation. Pezeshkian will travel to New York for the U.N. General Assembly this week.
Markets also drew support from U.S.–China talks in New York on Sunday, ahead of a Trump–Xi summit that opens in Washington on Thursday.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who met Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, said the two countries had discussed setting up a “U.S.–China AI dialogue.” Bessent described it as a channel to communicate about the technology and its potential risks, with a “notification mechanism” for incidents that rise to a national security level.
Stocks had come under pressure last week when the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates to curb inflation, partly driven by higher energy prices from the U.S.–Iran war. Brent crude fell 3.3 percent to $100.46 a barrel by midday in Europe, while West Texas Intermediate declined 3.1 percent to $97.15. London, Paris, and Frankfurt gained around one percent. Optimism about the U.S.–China talks also lifted Asian markets, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gaining 1.2 percent, Shanghai rising one percent, and South Korea’s technology-heavy benchmark climbing 1.7 percent. Tokyo was closed for a public holiday.
Trade and tariffs are expected to feature prominently at the Trump–Xi summit. Investors will be looking for signs that Washington and Beijing can extend their trade truce, which expires on November 10, and prevent renewed tensions between the world’s two largest economies. China’s relationship with Iran means any summit discussion of the war could move energy and bond markets and shape the broader U.S.–China relationship. (AFP+EIR)
