U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are set to hold their first face-to-face summit in four months, focusing on artificial intelligence policy and trade relations. The meeting comes as Chinese trade has surged under Xi's leadership, while Trump's domestic standing has faced pressure from energy-driven inflation linked to the ongoing conflict with Iran.
Leaders are expected to consider extending a trade truce established last year after a tit-for-tat trade war erupted between the two nations. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng concluded discussions on Sunday regarding a potential AI safety notification mechanism. Xi will forgo attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, opting instead for the bilateral talks with Trump.
On the domestic front, S&P Global will release its preliminary flash purchasing managers' indices for September, offering an early read on U.S. business activity. The services sector PMI is forecast to ease slightly to 56.0 from August's 56.5 reading, while manufacturing is expected to dip to 53.4 from 53.9. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. August saw the services industry post its strongest growth in nearly two years, partially offsetting factory sluggishness stemming from supply disruptions tied to the Iran conflict. Third-quarter U.S. economic growth is on pace to roughly double the 1.5% annualized rate recorded in the April-June period.
Members-only warehouse retailer Costco is scheduled to report its fiscal fourth-quarter results, the sole notable earnings release on an otherwise quiet calendar. The company beat third-quarter sales forecasts in May, buoyed by demand for lower-priced gasoline as energy costs soared. Costco has recently moved to constrain food pricing, particularly beef, which had weighed on margins during the prior quarter. Shares have gained more than 4% year-to-date.
In technology, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will deliver a keynote at the company's Connect conference on Wednesday. Zuckerberg has previously argued that competition and liability constraints provide sufficient incentive for AI firms to act safely. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated there is a "0% chance" humanity will be wiped out by AI, pushing back against industry researchers who have warned of existential threats potentially materializing by 2030. Big-tech hyperscalers including Meta continue planning substantial capital expenditures on AI infrastructure such as chips and data centers.
Meanwhile, world leaders are gathering in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, where AI risk and the widening Middle East conflict are top priorities. Scheduled speakers include Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Diplomats told Reuters that the 15-member U.N. Security Council could hold high-level meetings addressing AI governance, the Middle East, and the war in Ukraine.
