Wall Street futures edged higher on Wednesday as investors waited for the meeting between President Trump and President Xi Jinping at the White House, with the Nasdaq sitting at a record close and oil sliding for a fifth straight session.
S&P 500 futures rose about 0.1 percent in early trading, while Nasdaq 100 and Dow futures also ticked up. The moves followed a strong session for technology stocks on Tuesday, when the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.45 percent to close at a record 27,244.28. The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 185 points, or 0.36 percent.
The summit is the first US state visit by a Chinese leader in 11 years and the second Trump-Xi meeting this year, after a May session in Beijing. Markets are watching for two things: whether the tariff truce struck last October gets extended, and whether China commits to further purchases of American goods. The current truce expires on November 10, which gives both sides a hard deadline regardless of what is said at the White House.
Xi landed at Andrews base on Tuesday and was greeted by Trump, a choreography both governments confirmed well in advance, an unusual step for Beijing. The agenda spans trade, investment, AI, the Iran war and Taiwan, though officials on both sides have tempered expectations. White House officials described the goal as extending the truce and locking in agricultural purchases rather than a sweeping new agreement.
Oil extends its slide
Crude benchmarks fell for a fifth consecutive day, with Brent ending at $94.59 as diplomacy between Washington and Tehran continued. Energy prices had been the main inflation worry of the past month, after the US-Iran conflict pushed Brent toward $95 and drove bond yields to multi-decade highs in early September. Japan’s 10-year yield went above 3 percent for the first time in three decades during that stretch, and German and UK yields hit levels last seen more than a decade ago.
The retreat has eased some of that pressure, and traders now assign a lower probability to further rate hikes on both sides of the Atlantic. European natural gas prices also came off their peaks, though they remain far above levels from two years ago. Any breakdown in US-Iran talks would reverse the oil move quickly, which is why desks are treating the energy decline as conditional rather than a trend.
The oil story has direct crypto relevance. Bitcoin spent last week tracking energy prices closely, and analysts noted the token seeking support near $86,000 once crude dipped below $90. A continued oil decline removes one macro headwind from risk assets, though it also reflects expectations of de-escalation rather than pure relief.
AI stocks carry the index
Artificial intelligence names remain the engine under the Nasdaq. AMD crossed a $1 trillion valuation this week on AI demand, and Qualcomm’s launch of its first 2nm phone chips kept the semiconductor complex in focus. The concentration cuts both ways: a handful of large AI-linked stocks now accounts for an outsized share of index gains, and any disappointment in the summit’s technology outcomes, particularly around export controls, would land hardest there.
Export controls are the quiet agenda item. Trade dominated the public framing of the summit, but the unresolved disputes over chip technology, AI compute and digital sovereignty are the ones with direct market consequences. A May CSIS assessment of the Beijing summit found little progress on exactly those dimensions, and analysts expect the same pattern this week: visible trade gestures, little movement on technology restrictions.
| Asset | Latest | Move |
|---|---|---|
| Nasdaq Composite | 27,244.28 record close | +0.45% Tuesday |
| S&P 500 futures | early Wednesday | +0.1% |
| Dow | Tuesday close | -0.36% |
| Brent crude | $94.59 | 5th straight decline |
| Bitcoin | near $86,000 | down from weekly high |
What crypto is watching
Bitcoin traded near $86,000 on Wednesday after a 14 percent weekly run carried it above the average cost basis of spot ETF holders. The rally has been driven by ETF inflows of $1.7 billion over two days, led by BlackRock’s IBIT, and by expectations that a softer trade tone would support risk assets. The last Trump-Xi meeting produced little durable crypto movement, and traders this week are positioning more cautiously than headlines suggest.
Liquidations told that story on Tuesday night. Long positions worth $280 million were flushed as bitcoin briefly dipped under $84,000, a reminder that leverage has built up alongside the rally. The market cap of all crypto reclaimed $3 trillion this week for the first time in months, another sign of how far sentiment has recovered since the autumn drawdown.
History also counsels restraint. After the October 2025 Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea, bitcoin sold off despite the trade truce it produced, and the May Beijing summit left crypto prices roughly where they started. Event-driven rallies have tended to fade within days unless backed by actual policy changes.
What comes after the handshake
After the summit, attention shifts to September flash PMIs due Wednesday and a heavy calendar of Federal Reserve speeches. The Fed remains the bigger driver for both equities and crypto: markets currently price a minority chance of a hike at the next meeting, and any hawkish surprise would matter more than anything announced in Washington.
For now, the tape says investors expect the meeting to go smoothly enough. Futures are up, volatility is contained, and the record Nasdaq close suggests no one is hedging for a breakdown. The test comes when the truce expiry approaches in November, with or without a new communiqué from the White House lawn.