Mohammad Berger Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian parliament, gestures and speaks to the media during a press conference in the conference hall of the Iranian parliament building in Tehran, Iran, on December 2, 2025.
Morteza Nicobazul | Nur Photo | Getty Images
Hello, my name is Anique Bao from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
If it seems like a lot to keep track of, that’s because it is.
President Trump extended the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon by three weeks, giving diplomats more leeway while stepping up attacks on Iran over the Strait of Hormuz.
Investors, who had become somewhat accustomed to seeing past the headlines, were nervous. But the uncertain prospect of a permanent end to the war will dampen that enthusiasm.
The good news? It’s almost the weekend, but it’s worth remembering that the Iran war began nearly two months ago on Saturday.
What you need to know today
US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to extend the ceasefire for three weeks after meeting with senior administration officials at the White House.
“The meeting went very well!” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social announcing the extension of the temporary ceasefire. “The United States will work together to protect Lebanon from Hezbollah,” Trump wrote, referring to Iranian-backed militias.
Meanwhile, the warring powers have raised their terms, with both Iran and the United States seizing ships and President Trump ordering the US Navy, which is laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, to “shoot down every vessel.”
Amid mixed messages, U.S. stocks fell as investors grew wary of the delicate status of the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran and the uncertain outlook for a peace agreement. Asia-Pacific markets started mixed, with stock futures little changed.
Brent crude oil futures rose about 3% on Thursday, closing at $105.07 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures also rose about 3%, closing at $95.85. It was about 1% higher on Friday.
Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), told CNBC on Thursday that the nearly two-month conflict has raised alarm over the “greatest energy security threat in history.”
“As of today, we have lost 13 million barrels of oil per day… and there is significant disruption to critical commodities,” Birol told Steve Sedgwick virtually on CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore.
Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also spoke at the event, saying “economic coercion” from the United States was encouraging Canadian companies to do business with China, and complained that international financial institutions were no longer fit for purpose.
On the business side, Meta plans to lay off 10% of its workforce, or approximately 8,000 people, as it continues to ramp up its investment in AI. Nike has announced new layoffs, affecting approximately 1,400 employees across the organization, most of them concentrated in the technology sector.
After several rounds of layoffs last year, Microsoft plans to offer a voluntary employee buyout plan for the first time, while adjusting how it distributes stock to employees as annual compensation to better recognize high performance.
— Anique Bao
And finally…
US soldier arrested after winning $400,000 in polymarket bet on Maduro capture, Justice Department says
A U.S. Army Special Forces sergeant major was arrested on suspicion of using classified information to place highly lucrative bets on polymarket prediction markets in connection with the U.S. military mission that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
The Justice Department said Sergeant Gannon Ken Van Dyke “was involved in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve,” which arrested President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in early January.
His arrest comes amid the growing popularity of Polymarket and Kalsi and growing concerns that people with inside information are placing bets on these prediction market platforms.
Van Dyke is charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, one count of wire fraud, and one count of illegal financial transactions. He is scheduled to appear before a magistrate judge in federal court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on Thursday night.
— Dan Mangan, Jim Forkin
