Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific.

Asian equities started the day stronger after a rally in US chipmakers drove the Nasdaq 100 Index to its first record since June. Meta Platforms Inc.'s new Muse AI agent was again in the spotlight, with Shopify Inc. shares jumping 7.1% after the companies struck a partnership. Meanwhile, concerns that AI could erode margins and fees at financial brokerages drove US financial stocks lower. We spoke to Sunny Bangia. He covers Asia Equities for Bloomberg.

And - President Trump is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on Thursday. Trade will be a key focus. Both sides are seeking to extend their tariff truce reached last year. Ahead of the summit, US negotiators are signaling that rare earth flows and critical minerals remain a sticking point. Bloomberg's Shery Ahn spoke to Former US Department of Energy Deputy Director for Batteries and Critical Minerals Ashley Zumwalt-Forbes.