Tonight's Highlights | Intel's Pre-Market Stock Soars Nearly 30%, Nasdaq Futures Rise Over 1%
Before the opening of U.S. stock markets on Thursday (September 18th), futures of the three major indices rose collectively. Driven by the strength of technology stocks, Nasdaq futures climbed more than 1%.
As of press time, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.47%, S&P 500 Index futures rose 0.75%, and Nasdaq 100 Index futures gained 1.14%.
In terms of individual stocks, Intel's pre-market stock jumped over 29%, and NVIDIA rose nearly 3%. Prior to this, NVIDIA announced a $5 billion investment in Intel, and Intel will customize x86 CPUs for NVIDIA. This also led to a decline of approximately 4% in AMD (Advanced Micro Devices).
Among other technology stocks, Alphabet, Broadcom, Tesla, and Palantir rose more than 1%; ASML advanced about 7%, and Synopsys surged over 10%. Novo Nordisk climbed 7.7% as the company's product director stated that semaglutide has significant advantages over competitors from Eli Lilly.
89bio soared more than 86%. This clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company is committed to developing innovative therapies for the treatment of liver and cardiometabolic diseases. Earlier in the day, Roche announced that it would acquire 89bio, with the transaction value potentially reaching nearly $3.5 billion.
In the previous trading session, the three major U.S. stock indices had a mixed performance. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, but the market had mixed opinions on the complex signals released by the central bank at that time. It was not until before the market opened today that investors made up their minds to shift their favor back to technology stocks.
After the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut, strategists at Société Générale pointed out that it is time to invest more money in the stock market: "The good times will continue because the Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates in a non-recessionary environment."
"History shows that a more dovish Federal Reserve will obviously boost global stock markets, not just the U.S. stock market," Société Générale strategists also predicted that the S&P 500 Index will reach 7,300 points in the first half of 2026.
European stock markets that are currently trading were generally higher. Germany's DAX Index was now up 1.2%, the UK's FTSE 100 Index rose 0.15%, and France's CAC 40 Index gained 1.14%.
Company News
Huang Renxun: The Cooperation Will Closely Integrate NVIDIA's AI and Intel's CPUs
NVIDIA will inject $5 billion into Intel. In the data center field, Intel will customize x86 CPUs for NVIDIA, which NVIDIA will integrate into its AI infrastructure platform; in the personal computing field, Intel will manufacture and supply x86 system-on-chips (SOCs) integrated with NVIDIA's RTX GPU chips. Huang Renxun, CEO of NVIDIA, said: "This historic cooperation will closely integrate NVIDIA's AI and accelerated computing stack with Intel's CPUs and the vast x86 ecosystem, realizing the integration of two world-class platforms. We will work together to expand the ecosystem and lay the foundation for the next computing era." After the completion of the transaction, NVIDIA may hold 4% or more of Intel's shares, becoming one of Intel's major shareholders. However, the cooperation agreement between the two parties does not involve the foundry business of NVIDIA's chips.
Microsoft Reaches $6.2 Billion AI Infrastructure Agreement in Norway
Microsoft, Nscale, and Aker have reached a five-year agreement to build next-generation AI infrastructure in Narvik, northern Norway, with the agreement value up to $6.2 billion. The three parties will provide services in phases starting from 2026.
Meta Launches AI Smart Glasses with Built-in HD Display, Starting Price at $799
Meta announced the launch of its AI smart glasses, Meta Ray-Ban Display, equipped with a full-color HD display. Each pair of glasses is matched with the Meta Neural Band. This EMG wristband can convert signals generated by muscles (such as subtle finger movements) into operation instructions for the glasses. The set includes the glasses and the neural wristband, with a starting price of $799.
Eli Lilly: Oral GLP-1RA Orforglipron Outperforms Oral Semaglutide in Head-to-Head Study
On September 17th (local time), Eli Lilly announced positive top-line results from the ACHIEVE-3 study, which is an open-label, randomized phase 3 clinical study. It evaluated the safety and efficacy of orforglipron compared with oral semaglutide (administered in accordance with the approved label) in 1,698 adult participants with type 2 diabetes whose blood glucose was not well controlled by metformin treatment. The study lasted for 52 weeks, and in four active treatment groups, it compared the results of orforglipron (12mg and 36mg) and oral semaglutide (7mg and 14mg) in terms of blood glucose control and weight loss. At 52 weeks, all dose groups of orforglipron achieved the primary endpoint and all key secondary endpoints, and were superior to oral semaglutide in improving glycated hemoglobin (A1C) and body weight.
Musk on Terawatt-Scale Data Centers: Solar Energy/Batteries Will Be the Only Option
A user on X posted: "xAI currently has 460 megawatts of natural gas turbines installed, operational, or under construction... xAI will become the first company to reach 1,000 megawatts (1 gigawatt) at a single data center site." Musk responded: "1 gigawatt is still a piece of cake. For continuous high power of 100 gigawatts (approximately 1/5 of the average electricity consumption in the United States), it may require solar energy/battery power supply. Above 1 terawatt (1,000 gigawatts), solar energy/batteries are the only realistic option."
Morgan Stanley stated that the early delivery time for the iPhone 17 series is the same as or slightly longer than that in the same period last year, indicating that the early demand for the iPhone 17.