Ticker: Wall Street rallies within 0.4% of its record

The day\'s business news at a glance

Wall Street climbed to the edge of its all-time high, and stocks rallied worldwide after oil prices and yields in the bond market surrendered their market-rattling gains from last week. The S&P 500 jumped 1.5% Monday and pulled within 0.4% of its record.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 2.3% as chip stocks led the way. Stocks benefited from a drop for Brent oil back toward $100 per barrel, while the 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.95%. The easing pressure helped indexes rise more than 1% from Germany to Hong Kong to South Korea.

China, US have shared concerns over AI safety

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to meet this week to discuss artificial intelligence. The meeting comes amid rising concerns about AI's potential threats and the competitive tension between the two countries.

On Sunday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. and China discussed setting up a mechanism for AI dialogue and a notification system for AI incidents impacting national security. Both nations are worried about AI's potential to attack critical infrastructure. Despite U.S. export controls, Chinese AI models are increasingly competitive. Accusations of technology theft remain a sore point in their relationship.

GOP targets Las Vegas congressional district

In Nevada's most competitive congressional district, Democratic Rep. Susie Lee is fending off a challenge from Republican candidate Marty O'Donnell, who has focused his campaign on the popular "no tax on tips" policy. Nevada has the highest concentration of tipped workers thanks to its hospitality and tourism industries.

The "no tax on tips" policy has resonated with Nevada voters since Donald Trump announced the idea as a presidential candidate in 2024. But Nevada continues to reel from a decline in tourism, which Democrats blame on the Republican president's policies. While Lee has the support of the politically powerful Culinary Workers Union, O'Donnell has help from national Republicans.

Inflation persistence led Fed to hike interest rate

A top Federal Reserve official says that stubbornly high inflation and the renewal of combat in the Middle East in August were key reasons she supported raising borrowing costs last week, when she also penciled in a second rate hike for later this year.

Susan Collins, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said in an interview with The Associated Press Monday that she agreed with the Fed's decision last week to lift its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point to about 3.9%. Collins was the second Fed official Monday to outline their thinking about rates.

Gates Foundation to make AI more accessible

The Gates Foundation is convening Anthropic, Google, OpenAI Foundation and dozens of other organizations to help make artificial intelligence more accessible in underrepresented languages. There are more than 60 partners in total, ranging from AI labs and corporations to philanthropies and governments.

The coalition aims to reach more than 3 billion people over five years by better coordinating existing efforts. Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman says the work must continue "full speed ahead" even as some large AI companies urge a slowdown on some advanced models' development. The collaboration follows last week's announcement that the Gates Foundation is committing $1 billion to expand access to AI.