{"id":642818,"date":"2026-08-18T02:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T02:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/642818\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T02:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T02:30:12","slug":"cnbc-daily-open-markets-caught-between-mideast-worries-and-ai-optimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/642818\/","title":{"rendered":"CNBC Daily Open: Markets caught between Mideast worries and AI optimism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A car with replicas of missiles and an image of Iran&#8217;s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (R), and late Supreme Leaders Ruhollah Jomeini (L), Ali Khamenei (C) during a gathering to commemorate the death of Imam Reza on August 12, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. <\/p>\n<p>Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC&#8217;s Daily Open.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese strategist Sun Tzu said that &#8220;the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>U.S. President Donald Trump seems to differ, threatening to fight everyone at the same time. While Trump wants a free Strait of Hormuz, he has now warned that Oman \u2014 which also borders the critical waterway \u2014 could face military action.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"headline0\"\/>What you need to know today<\/p>\n<p>The U.S.-Iran conflict is into its sixth month, and despite several promises of a deal and start-stop negotiations, the war in the Middle East now threatens to restart and drag more countries into its fold.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday stateside, U.S. President Donald Trump<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/08\/17\/us-iran-war-trump-hormuz.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> threatened<\/a> to &#8220;bomb the s&#8212; out of&#8221; Oman if the Gulf nation &#8220;gets in the way.&#8221;  Oman has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/08\/06\/oil-price-iran-war-strait-hormuz-oman-deal.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reportedly been working<\/a> with Iran on a plan\u00a0to define transit routes for shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. <\/p>\n<p>When asked again about Oman, Trump said the longtime U.S. strategic ally hasn&#8217;t &#8220;behaved very well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That statement comes as a ceasefire deal that was agreed between Washington and Tehran in June expires Monday stateside, with neither country showing any inclination to extend the deal. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;No,&#8221; Trump said when asked if he would seek an extension of that temporary truce, while a senior Iranian official told\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/middle-east\/iran-threatens-go-offensive-strait-hormuz-if-diplomacy-with-us-fails-2026-08-17\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Reuters<\/a> that Tehran would shift to offense rather than relying on defense if diplomacy with the U.S. fails.<\/p>\n<p>Markets were expectedly spooked by the development, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/08\/17\/oil-prices-iran-war-strait-hormuz.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">oil prices climbing<\/a> once again. International benchmark Brent rose 2.7% to settle at $90.87 Monday, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures gained 2.6% to close at $84.50 per barrel. Oil was higher early Tuesday in Asia trading.<\/p>\n<p>All <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/08\/16\/stock-market-today-live-updates-.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">three major U.S. indexes<\/a> also lost ground, with the broad market <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/quotes\/.SPX\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">S&amp;P 500<\/a> slipping 0.5%, while the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/quotes\/.IXIC\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nasdaq Composite<\/a>\u00a0fell 0.32% and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/quotes\/.DJI\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a>\u00a0shed 0.51%. Asia markets opened mixed Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"headline1\"\/>Tech deals and lawsuits<\/p>\n<p>Chip giant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/quotes\/NVDA\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nvidia<\/a>\u00a0will\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nvidianews.nvidia.com\/news\/nvidia-guarantees-sb-energy-s-ports-pike-technology-campus-in-ohio-to-exclusively-host-nvidia-ai-compute\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">provide<\/a>\u00a0up to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/ix?doc=\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/0001045810\/000104581026000069\/nvda-20260817.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">$105 billion in financing<\/a>\u00a0for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/08\/17\/nvidia-financing-open-ai-data-center-ohio.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">new\u00a0artificial intelligence\u00a0data center<\/a> for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/quotes\/OPENAI.FG\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">OpenAI<\/a>\u00a0in Ohio, a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/ix?doc=\/Archives\/edgar\/data\/0001045810\/000104581026000069\/nvda-20260817.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">securities filing revealed<\/a>\u00a0on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>The credit will support an initial 4.25 gigawatts of computing capacity with the option for an additional 3.75 gigawatts. Nvidia will provide the compute, with capacity expected to come online in phases in 2028.<\/p>\n<p>The deal is Nvidia&#8217;s latest in a string of financing maneuvers to support the sprawling AI data center buildout, despite concerns over circular financing in the AI trade. <\/p>\n<p>Moving from the boardroom to the courtroom, social media heavyweight Meta <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/08\/17\/meta-attorneys-general-california-federal-trial-astronomical-consequences.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">could face &#8220;astronomical&#8221;<\/a> consequences as the company faces a lawsuit in California, following a litany of allegations that the company fostered addictive behavior in teens and children.<\/p>\n<p>Industry experts are calling it social media&#8217;s &#8220;Big Tobacco&#8221;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/anishasircar\/2026\/03\/31\/big-techs-big-tobacco-moment-what-the-meta-and-youtube-ruling-means-for-you\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">moment<\/a>, with Meta as the centerpiece.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The term refers to when tobacco companies in the 1990s were forced to pay billions of dollars for misleading the public about the safety and potential harms of their products, and subsequently saw their power and influence dramatically diminished.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"headline2\"\/>And finally&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/08\/17\/disney-parks-strategy-superfans-mazloum.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Disney\u2019s new parks boss outlines investment strategy, with superfans at the fore<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are bringing the yeti back to life,&#8221; Thomas Mazloum, chairman of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/quotes\/DIS\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Disney<\/a>\u00a0Experiences, announced to 12,000 Disney parks fans Saturday night during the division&#8217;s showcase in Anaheim, California.<\/p>\n<p>Mazloum announced the yeti repair \u2014 as well as the return of fan-favorite characters Dreamfinder and Figment to Epcot in Florida and an overhaul of Tomorrowland in California \u2014 to some of Disney&#8217;s most ardent fans on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a signal of where the company plans to put its focus for the blockbuster Disney Experiences unit, made up of theme parks, cruise lines and consumer goods sales. <\/p>\n<p>As Disney expands its reach, it will need to lean on its most loyal attendees and biggest spenders to counter macroeconomic uncertainties and challenging travel trends.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sarah Whitten<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A car with replicas of missiles and an image of Iran&#8217;s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (R), and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":642819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[261],"tags":[208302,262214,291,289,290,207,1374,241279,356,18,63591,6620,30892,19,18929,17,162916,188,5763,778,3037,190,1999,82,384,162915,11980,4054],"class_list":["post-642818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-lco26v","tag-lco27f","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-business-news","tag-california","tag-direxion-daily-semiconductor-bear-3x-shares","tag-donald-trump","tag-eire","tag-energy-select-sector-spdr-fund","tag-foreign-policy","tag-government-and-politics","tag-ie","tag-iran","tag-ireland","tag-lp","tag-markets","tag-meta-platforms-inc","tag-nvidia-corp","tag-oman","tag-sp-500-index","tag-singapore","tag-technology","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-oil-fund","tag-walt-disney-co","tag-world-markets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117114164096204540","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}