[Edaily Reporter Kwon Oh Seok ] Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, has issued a bold forecast that the company’s semiconductor chip sales will double next year compared to this year. This reflects his confidence that demand for artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly spreading beyond specific data center sectors to all industries and countries worldwide.

According to foreign media outlets such as Bloomberg and CNBC on the 17th (local time), CEO Huang met with reporters while attending a high-level AI conference held at Dumfries House in Scotland, UK, and stated, “NVIDIA expects to sell twice as many chips next year as this year.”
He attributed this explosive growth in demand to the ripple effect brought about by AI. CEO Huang emphasized, “We can see that people in nearly every country where we operate want to invest in AI.”
NVIDIA effectively holds a monopoly on the graphics processing unit (GPU) market, which is central to the development and operation of global AI models. These remarks are in line with the positive earnings outlook NVIDIA has presented. In its earnings announcement last month, NVIDIA stated that revenue for the next fiscal year ending in January 2028 would increase by approximately 70%, and that revenue could even double if supply chain volumes are sufficient to fully support market demand.
NVIDIA’s stock price rose following CEO Hwang’s remarks. On that day, NVIDIA’s stock closed at $219.34, up 2.54% from the previous trading day. The intraday gain reached as high as 2.8%.
Here are the key news items to watch before the market opens on the 18th.
◇First Trading Day After Interest Rate Hike… New York Stock Market Rebounds
- On the first trading day following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s (Fed) first interest rate hike in three years and two months, the New York stock market actually rebounded sharply. On the 17th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 51,778.04 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 0.61% from the previous trading day. The S&P 500 index rose 1.14% to 7,637.76, and the Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.69% to 26,418.30. Tech stocks led the rally, with NVIDIA and Amazon each rising more than 2%.
Stock prices rebounded as both international oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields—which had weighed on the market the previous day—fell simultaneously. While concerns remain that the Federal Reserve has shifted toward monetary tightening, expectations are growing that a strong economy and robust corporate earnings can withstand further interest rate hikes. Of course, analysts note it is too early to breathe a sigh of relief, as a renewed deterioration in the Middle East situation could cause oil prices to spike, thereby driving up both inflation and interest rates.
◇Trump: “We Must Decide Whether to Wipe Out Iran”
- U.S. President Donald Trump has officially announced that he will soon make a decision on whether to resume large-scale military attacks targeting the Iranian regime. In an interview with the U.S. media outlet “Axios” on the 17th, he said, “A major decision is coming,” adding, “I have to decide whether I’m going to go in and wipe them [the Iranian regime] out or not.” He continued, “It’s a big decision. As far as I’m concerned, anything can happen.”
President Trump is scheduled to meet with the leaders of six Gulf nations—Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman—on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on the 22nd. The standoff with Iran is expected to reach a critical crossroads between a “diplomatic resolution” and the “resumption of full-scale war.” President Trump has mentioned the possibility of an end to the conflict on several occasions, but he avoided giving a direct answer as to when the final decision would be made—whether before or after the U.S. midterm elections this November.
◇Concerns over Saudi supply ease… International oil prices fall
- International oil prices fell. Concerns over supply disruptions from the Middle East eased somewhat as expectations grew for the early restoration of the Saudi East-West oil pipeline—which had been shut down by a drone attack—and as Saudi Arabia expanded crude oil supplies via Oman. According to CNBC, on the 17th, Brent crude futures—the international oil price benchmark—closed at $104.82 per barrel, down $1.01 (0.95%) from the previous trading day. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures closed at $101.91 per barrel, down 52 cents (0.51%). WTI has risen about 2% this week and more than 18% this month.
The decline in oil prices was driven by Saudi Arabia’s move to expand crude oil supply. Saudi Arabia is supplying additional crude oil to Asian refiners via ship-to-ship transfers near the Port of Sohar in Oman. Crude oil cargo volumes are also on the rise. According to the commodities data firm Kpler, crude oil shipments from Saudi ports in the Gulf have increased this month.
◇Victor Cha: “Cho Hyun’s Visit to the U.S. Is a Turning Point for U.S.-Korea Investment Negotiations”
- Victor Cha, the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), described Foreign Minister Cho Hyun’s visit to the U.S. as a turning point in the Korea-U.S. investment negotiations. He noted that Minister Cho’s visit could serve as a catalyst to push for a deal and predicted that an announcement of some form of agreement is likely during this visit.
Speaking at a seminar on “U.S.-Korea Trade and Investment Agreements” hosted by CSIS on the 17th, he said, “The foreign minister’s visit is, at least from the Korean side, an ‘action-forcing event’ to push for an agreement,” adding, “I expect some form of announcement to be made while Minister Cho is here (in the U.S.).” He also noted, “If nothing is announced while Minister Cho is here, it would be a very bad sign,” adding, “It’s hard to imagine this visit taking place if we didn’t expect something to be announced.”
◇Foreign Capital Returns to the Stock Market for the First Time in 8 Months
- Foreign investors made net purchases of domestically listed stocks for the first time in eight months. Net redemptions of listed bonds were recorded for the first time in four months. According to the “August 2026 Foreign Securities Investment Trends” report released by the Financial Supervisory Service, foreign investors made net purchases of 344 billion won worth of listed stocks last month (August) and made net redemptions of 4.736 trillion won worth of listed bonds, resulting in a net redemption of 4.392 trillion won from the domestic securities market overall.
By stock market, foreign investors made net purchases of 1.888 trillion won on the KOSPI, while making net sales of 1.545 trillion won on the KOSDAQ. As of the end of August, foreign holdings of listed securities totaled 2,610.9 trillion won. Holdings of listed stocks totaled 2,280.6 trillion won, an increase of 25.1 trillion won from the previous month, accounting for 34.8% of the total market capitalization. Holdings of listed bonds totaled 330.3 trillion won, a decrease of 5.8 trillion won from the previous month, representing 11.4% of the total listed bond balance.