{"id":72056,"date":"2026-09-21T12:38:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/markets-surge-as-l3harris-secures-tomahawk-deal-and-us-china-ai-pact-looms\/72056\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T12:38:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T16:38:24","slug":"markets-surge-as-l3harris-secures-tomahawk-deal-and-us-china-ai-pact-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/markets-surge-as-l3harris-secures-tomahawk-deal-and-us-china-ai-pact-looms\/72056\/","title":{"rendered":"Markets Surge as L3Harris Secures Tomahawk Deal and US-China AI Pact Looms"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Nasdaq 100 jumps 2.5%<\/strong> as easing <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/energy\/crude-oil\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"12\" title=\"Crude oil\">oil prices<\/a> and optimism surrounding a potential <strong>US-China AI agreement<\/strong> drive a broad market rally.<\/li>\n<li><strong>L3Harris Technologies (<a href=\"\/stock\/LHX\">LHX<\/a>)<\/strong> signs a multi-year agreement with the <strong>Naval Air Warfare Center<\/strong> to significantly increase <strong>Tomahawk missile production<\/strong> to meet urgent national security demands.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Saudi Aramco<\/strong> ramps up exports through the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, loading <strong>14 million barrels<\/strong> of crude despite ongoing regional tensions and a recent pipeline attack.<\/li>\n<li><strong>President Trump<\/strong> is set to decide this week on a landmark <strong>AI &quot;hotline&quot; deal<\/strong> with China ahead of a high-stakes summit with President Xi Jinping.<\/li>\n<li><strong>German economic growth forecasts<\/strong> have been doubled by leading institutes, with the <strong>IMK<\/strong> raising its 2026 outlook to <strong>1.3%<\/strong> following a strong first-half performance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Defense and Markets Lead Gains<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Nasdaq 100 Index<\/strong> extended its gains by <strong>2.5%<\/strong> on Monday, buoyed by a significant pullback in oil prices and a stabilization of Treasury yields. This rally comes as investors look toward a pivotal week of diplomacy and corporate developments. Technology and defense sectors were particularly active, with <strong>L3Harris Technologies (<a href=\"\/stock\/LHX\">LHX<\/a>)<\/strong> announcing a major partnership with the <strong>Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division<\/strong> to boost the manufacturing of critical components for the <strong>Tomahawk cruise missile<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The multi-year agreement aims to expand production capacity within the Navy&#39;s organic industrial base for energetics. This move is a direct response to the &quot;current international conflict,&quot; which has seen the U.S. Navy consume a significant portion of its missile inventory. Analysts note that the U.S. is aiming to increase Tomahawk output from roughly <strong>60 missiles per year<\/strong> to more than <strong>1,000 annually<\/strong> under a broader seven-year, <strong>$22.9 billion<\/strong> effort.<\/p>\n<h2>Geopolitical Tensions and Energy Resilience<\/h2>\n<p>In the Middle East, <strong>Saudi Aramco<\/strong> demonstrated operational resilience by loading <strong>14 million barrels<\/strong> of crude onto seven Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) on Sunday. This surge in exports through the <strong>Strait of Hormuz<\/strong> follows a temporary shutdown of the <strong>East-West Pipeline<\/strong> due to a drone attack. The shift back to the Strait occurs even as <strong>President Trump<\/strong> remains caught between supporting <strong>Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman<\/strong> and avoiding an escalation into a new regional war.<\/p>\n<p>Diplomatic signals remain mixed as a <strong>Houthi leader<\/strong> expressed readiness for a &quot;fair deal&quot; to end the conflict with Saudi Arabia, despite recent strikes on Riyadh. Meanwhile, <strong>Israel<\/strong> conducted two raids in southern Lebanon, targeting the areas of <strong>Zuotar al-Sharqiya<\/strong> and <strong>Kafre Tibnit<\/strong>. In a separate diplomatic track, the interior ministers of <strong>Iran and Pakistan<\/strong> met to discuss the ongoing peace process in the region.<\/p>\n<h2>Global Economic and Tech Outlook<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Trump administration<\/strong> is expected to decide this week on a proposed <strong>US-China AI safety deal<\/strong>. The agreement would establish a direct communication &quot;hotline&quot; to manage risks associated with advanced artificial intelligence, such as hacking and autonomous weapons. This decision is timed ahead of the <strong>Trump-Xi summit<\/strong> scheduled for later this week, which is also expected to cover reciprocal tariff reductions.<\/p>\n<p>In Europe, Germany&#39;s economic outlook has brightened considerably. Leading institutes, including the <strong>IMK<\/strong> and <strong>IW<\/strong>, have sharply upgraded their growth forecasts for 2026. The <strong>IMK<\/strong> now expects the German economy to grow by <strong>1.3%<\/strong>, up from an earlier estimate of <strong>0.6%<\/strong>, citing robust exports and increased government spending on defense and infrastructure. Additionally, the <strong>Italian Treasury<\/strong> announced plans to sell up to <strong>\u20ac2.5 billion<\/strong> of 3% 2028 bonds on September 24th to manage its national debt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Nasdaq 100 jumps 2.5% as easing oil prices and optimism surrounding a potential US-China AI agreement drive a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[1767,3809,4383,5032,5072,5230,7789],"class_list":["post-72056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-ndaq","tag-lhx","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-middle-east","tag-germany","tag-defense","tag-saudi-aramco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}