Treasury–Beijing Talks Raise Questions for Investors

Stephen H Akin
Sep 15
1 min read

Updated: Oct 19

Tech and trade tensions between the U.S. and China are in focus as the week starts, with conflicting signals for investors to process.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and China's top negotiator, Vice Premier He Lifeng, held a second day of talks in Madrid. President Trump said the discussions had gone very well, and hinted at a deal over TikTok, the Chinese-owned app for which a U.S. ban looms, echoing earlier comments by Bessent. He said he would speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday.

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Earlier, however, China's antitrust regulator said an initial investigation showed Nvidia violated antimonopoly law. Shares in the chip maker fell premarket, as did other semiconductor stocks. Over the weekend, China also said it had launched probes into some U.S. analog chip imports and American measures against China's chip sector.

Markets began the week on an upbeat note, as investors await the expected start of a rate-cutting campaign by the Federal Reserve. Stock futures rose, as did Japanese and most European indexes. U.S. benchmarks notched record highs last week.

The Senate is set to vote Monday on Stephen Miran's nomination to the Fed's board, as Republicans rush to confirm him ahead of this week's rate-setting meeting. Although Miran's seat would only run through January.