U.S. President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One after arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, on March 7, 2026.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Images
Hello, my name is Hui Jie from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
US President Donald Trump clearly finds it difficult to exit the Iran conflict, as evidenced by his increasingly sharp rhetoric and multiple threats against Iran.
Indeed, with US Marines arriving in the region amid reports that Washington is considering a ground operation, the possibility of the US being drawn into a new quagmire is becoming all too real.
What you need to know today
In his magnum opus, The Art of War, Chinese strategist and general Sun Tzu said, “No country has ever benefited from a prolonged war.”
US President Donald Trump, a veteran of “The Art of the Deal,” appears to be having trouble implementing the advice of China strategists.
On Monday night, President Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s oil wells, export hub Kharg Island and power plants unless a peace deal is reached “soon.”
This caused oil prices to rise further, with US West Texas Intermediate futures exceeding $100 per barrel for the first time since 2022, US markets falling, and the S&P 500 inching closer to correction territory.
Markets fell even as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said inflation expectations were well-founded despite rising energy prices and that the central bank did not need to respond by raising interest rates.
But the effects of the war extend beyond oil. Aluminum prices have hit a four-year high as Iran’s attacks on Middle East producers heightened concerns about supply shortages.
Raising ethical concerns, the Financial Times reported that US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s brokers tried to invest heavily in major defense companies ahead of the Iran war. The Pentagon claimed the report was “false and fabricated.”
And finally…
Quantum technology companies rush to enter market as industry reaches ‘inflection point’
Quantum technology companies are defying a turbulent market to go public this year, as the industry seeks to raise money from recent scientific advances and push experimental technologies toward commercialization.
One such company, Xanadu Quantum, which develops quantum computing hardware and software, began trading on the Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchanges on Friday, rising 15% in the U.S. after a rough start in the public markets.
Xanadu’s listing comes a week after Singapore-based quantum software company Horizon Quantum began trading following its merger with blank check company dMY Squared Technology Group.
— Dylan Butts, Matthew Chin
