Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 23, 2026. <\/p>\n
Brendan McDermid | Reuters<\/p>\n
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd writing to you from London. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.<\/p>\n
As trading days go, yesterday is up there with the most unusual sessions of my near-20 years at CNBC. President Donald Trump’s Truth Social post about a five-day halt on energy strikes in Iran sent shockwaves through the markets and the newsroom on Monday. The wild swings across asset classes were only exacerbated by denials from Iranian state media that talks had even happened. Indicators that suggest a spike in trading took place ahead of the social media post are now only adding to the confusion.<\/p>\n
Going by the ‘morning-after trade,’ it looks like there is a high degree of skepticism over the long-term impact of this proclamation from the U.S. President. <\/p>\n
What you need to know today<\/p>\n The 600 point rally for the Dow<\/a> has already begun to fade in Asia. Indices across Asia-Pacific pared gains<\/a> on Tuesday, while early indicators<\/a> see European and U.S. stocks opening in the red. That’s mainly down to the fact that oil is once again marching higher, with Brent crossing $100<\/a> a barrel on skepticism over de-escalation in the Middle East. <\/p>\n An usual pattern has emerged, with markets appearing to have moved even before Trump’s Truth Social Post<\/a> signaled a breakthrough in talks with Iran, with the S&P 500 futures and oil futures flashing an unusual burst of activity<\/a> early Monday, minutes before a market-moving social media post from President Donald Trump. The activity stood out from an otherwise subdued premarket backdrop.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, the optimism came despite a cloud of uncertainty<\/a>. Iranian state media, citing an unnamed “senior security official,” denied any talks had taken place, contradicting Trump’s description of events and raising questions about how durable the market rally may be.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, gold extended its slide<\/a> on Tuesday, deepening its bear market phase, as investors unwind positions, with a stronger U.S. dollar and elevated Treasury yields reducing the yellow metal’s allure.<\/p>\n In corporate news, M&A is still on the menu amid the volatility. U.S. beauty giant Est\u00e9e Lauder Companies<\/a>\u00a0said Monday that it is in talks with Spanish beauty group\u00a0Puig<\/a>\u00a0to potentially merge the two firms. The announcement sent shares in the U.S. group down nearly 8%, while Puig rose around 3%. <\/p>\n \u2014 Leonie Kidd<\/p>\n And finally…<\/p>\n OpenAI calls out Microsoft reliance as risk in investor document ahead of expected IPO<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In a document that resembles an IPO prospectus, OpenAI said its close ties with Microsoft<\/a> could be a potential risk to its business, telling investors that the software company is responsible for “a substantial portion of our financing and compute.”<\/p>\n OpenAI included sections titled “Risks Related to the Transaction” and “Risks Related to our Business” in a financial document, viewed by CNBC, that the company shared with prospective investors tied to its recent record financing round.<\/p>\n \u2014 Lora Kolodny, Ashley Capoot<\/p>\n