U.S. President Donald Trump attends to sign an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on March 31, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Evan Vucci | Reuters
Hello, my name is Dylan Butts from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
U.S. markets started the second quarter on a strong note on Wednesday, rising for the second straight session as hopes for a calmer situation in the Middle East lifted sentiment.
But as we have learned throughout the conflict, a single comment from President Donald Trump can accelerate or reverse momentum. We may see just that this morning as he prepares to address the nation at 9 p.m. ET.
President Trump is expected to provide an update on Iran ceasefire negotiations and the future of US military involvement in the region. The latest information leading up to this address is:
What you need to know today
All three major U.S. indexes rose on Wednesday as investors grew more optimistic that an end to the U.S.-Iranian war was in sight.
of S&P500 and Nasdaq Composite They rose by 0.72% and 1.16%, respectively. of Dow Jones Industrial Average It increased by 224.23 points (0.48%). U.S. stock futures were little changed after market closed as traders awaited President Trump’s speech on the Middle East war.
The market may already know in advance what will be discussed in the speech. Earlier Wednesday, President Trump claimed that Iran’s “new president” had asked the United States for a ceasefire.
But President Trump said on Truth Social that the US would only “consider” the request once the Strait of Hormuz was “open, free and transparent.” “Until then, we will either blow Iran into oblivion or, as the saying goes, return to the Stone Age!!!” he wrote.
However, the Iranian government denied the call for a ceasefire in comments to Al Jazeera. The day before, an Iranian official also said, “There are no negotiations at this time.”
Despite Washington’s interest in a ceasefire, the war continues. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that U.S. bombers had struck the central Iranian city of Isfahan after President Trump posted a video showing a massive explosion.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards then responded with threats of attacks against a swath of U.S. tech companies operating in the Middle East, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, and Google.
Speaking of American technology companies, there was some big movement in the industry this week. SpaceX, which also owns Elon Musk’s AI company xAI, secretly filed for an IPO on Wednesday, setting the stage for a record-breaking initial public offering. The move comes just one day after OpenAI completed a record funding round ahead of its expected IPO.
SpaceX is the world’s leading private space company and is considered a major commercial partner of NASA. On Wednesday, NASA launched its first manned mission to the moon in half a century.
— Dylan Butts
And finally…
President Trump criticizes birthright citizenship in the United States, calling it “stupid” after attending Supreme Court argument.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday over whether President Donald Trump’s executive order can overturn longstanding constitutional guarantees of citizenship for people born in the United States, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Trump is in court for arguments in the birthright citizenship case known as Trump v. Barbara, the first time a sitting president has appeared before such a courtroom.
President Trump stayed for more than an hour to hear a presentation from Attorney General D. John Sauer, who defended the executive order, but left after less than 15 minutes after an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer argued against the order.
“We are the only country in the world stupid enough to recognize ‘natural-born’ citizenship!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social after leaving office.
— Dan Mangan
