A view of destroyed buildings in an area hit by a U.S. airstrike during the U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, on July 21, 2026, amid renewed conflicts between Iran and the United States in southern Iran. <\/p>\n
Morteza Nikoubazl | Nurphoto | Getty Images<\/p>\n
Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.<\/p>\n
It’s been a relatively calm weekend, with a pause in the fighting in the Middle East instead of an escalation.<\/p>\n
But that doesn’t mean all is smooth sailing. Ukraine, in a far-reaching strike, hit an Iranian commercial vessel, while the Trump administration dealt with tariff lawsuits at home.<\/p>\n
Nvidia raced to secure more memory from SK Hynix in a deal that could be up to $500 billion, which could serve as a catalyst for the stock that has fallen heavily in the last month.<\/p>\n
But one of our European reporters asks what might be the most important question today: Why is chocolate so expensive?<\/p>\n
What you need to know today<\/p>\n Investors had a calm weekend on the Middle East front, after a pause in the Iran war<\/a> sent oil prices lower and stocks higher, giving investors a welcome break from the resumption of hostilites between Tehran and the U.S.<\/p>\n But the relief came with plenty of caveats. Ukraine struck an Iranian commercial ship in the Caspian Sea, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a> saying that the strike involved military cargo shipments related to Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n Iran said the attack left one sailor dead and injured several others, and Tehran accused Kyiv of a hostile act.<\/p>\n The Trump administration is also facing grouses elsewhere, with lawsuits from two businesses<\/a> over its new Section 301 tariffs, which were imposed last Friday over forced-labor claims. Experts told CNBC the duties may struggle to survive legal scrutiny. <\/p>\n Across the Atlantic, Britain’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, said he is prepared to call out Trump<\/a> if needed.<\/p>\n “You have to defend your own national interest before anything else. That’s what you’re required to do if you’re to do this job properly,” Burnham said in an BBC interview. <\/p>\n For investors, though, the biggest deal of the day may still be in AI. Nvidia has secured what could be a $500 billion memory supply agreement with SK Hynix<\/a>, potentially alleviating a concern as the memory market faces a global shortage.<\/p>\n It isn’t only tech drawing attention: the S&P 500 industrials sector<\/a> is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio above 30, a level more often associated with high-growth names.<\/p>\n Cinthia Murphy, director of research at VettaFi, said “it’s as high as tech, so it really is a sector that has really had its moment in the sun and picked up a lot of attention.”<\/p>\n In Asia, investors will also be keeping an eye out on China’s industrial profits for June, which will give a marker as to the state of the world’s second largest economy.<\/p>\n And finally…<\/p>\n Cocoa prices are easing. So why is chocolate still so expensive?<\/a><\/p>\n Cocoa prices are beginning to ease after a record-breaking rally, but don’t expect cheaper candy just yet as the world’s biggest chocolate makers turn to social media-inspired products and other strategies to win shoppers back.<\/p>\n Prices reached record highs over the past two years, triggered by adverse weather conditions and poor cocoa harvests that pushed chocolate costs higher and dampened consumer sentiment.<\/p>\n