CNBC Daily Open: Headwinds don’t seem to bother the U.S. stock market

The U.S. stock market appears a little too optimistic. All three major indexes climbed Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite enjoying their third consecutive session in the green. The S&P, in fact, is around 2% away from its all-time high, which it reached in February.

That’s despite the shadow of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs still haunting the economy. As the 90-day tariff pause ticks down, America, so far, has just one deal, struck with the U.K., and an agreement with China that, while reaffirmed by both sides after two days of negotiations in London, is still preliminary and keeps tariffs at double-digit levels.

Corporations are seemingly bracing for economic fallout already. Layoffs have been accelerating this year. Google and Paramount on Tuesday joined Microsoft, Citigroup and Disney in announcing headcount cuts. (However, it should be noted that layoffs, rather perversely, tend to push up stock prices because they are a cost-cutting measure.)

And the bond market, the sterner sibling of the stock market, might put a check on investor enthusiasm. If there are unexpected results from U.S. inflation data and Treasury auctions on Wednesday and Thursday, yields could rise again, not only putting pressure on stocks, but also the broader economy in terms of higher borrowing costs.

The stock market, then, seems to be betting on more trade breakthroughs and favorable inflation data. But the bond market and CEOs might not be so sure about that.

U.S. and China reach trade framework
The U.S. and China have reached an agreement on trade, representatives from both sides said Tuesday after a second day of high-level talks in London. The deal now awaits a nod from the leaders of the two countries. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick indicated U.S. restrictions on sales of advanced tech to China in recent weeks would be rolled back as Beijing approves rare-earth exports.

S&P 500 notches three-day win streak
U.S. stocks rose Wednesday. The S&P 500 advanced 0.55% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.63%, the third day of gains for both indexes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.25%. Asia-Pacific markets climbed Wednesday on optimism surrounding U.S.-China trade talks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.92% and mainland China’s CSI 300 rose 0.77% at 1:30 p.m. Singapore time. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi was up 1%, hitting its highest level since January 2022.

Musk announces robotaxi launch
Elon Musk said Tuesday Tesla’s robotaxi service is “tentatively” set to launch in Austin, Texas, on June 22. Earlier in the day, Tesla shares rose 5.7% to close at $326.09, leaving the stock about $6 short of where it was trading last Wednesday, when it sank 14% after CEO Musk publicly feuded with Trump. The jump came after Musk shared a video on X showing that Tesla was testing driverless vehicles on the roads of Austin.

Bond market in focus
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases data on May’s consumer prices on Wednesday, then producer prices on Thursday. At the same time, the government will hold sales of long-duration Treasurys on the same days. Together, those results could have important implications for the direction of the economy and the reaction of the Federal Reserve and its approach to interest rate policy, reported CNBC’s Jeff Cox.

Meta to invest $14 billion in Scale AI
Mark Zuckerberg is so frustrated with Meta’s standing in artificial intelligence that he’s finalizing a deal to invest $14 billion into Scale AI, which would bring its CEO Alexandr Wang into Meta’s fold, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Scale AI helps major tech companies like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft prepare data they use to train cutting-edge AI models.

Google offers buyouts
Google on Tuesday offered buyouts to employees in several divisions. Affected units include knowledge and information — which houses the company’s search, ads and commerce divisions — and central engineering units as well as marketing, research and communications teams, CNBC has learned. Google has done multiple buyout offers in a few units this year, making it a preferred strategy to reduce headcount.

[PRO] Tesla shares to drop 60%: Wells Fargo
Even though investors were enthused by the prospect of Tesla rolling out its robotaxi service in the future, Wells Fargo analysts think that feature won’t be able to offset the company’s weak sales that will trend “meaningfully weaker.” The bank expects Tesla’s shares to plunge around 63% from Tuesday’s close.

AI hits an already weak jobs market in China

China’s eagerness to adopt artificial intelligence comes just as economic growth is slowing, putting millions of routine jobs at risk.

“I’m planning to get rid of 360 [Security Technology’s] entire marketing department. This way the company can save tens of millions a year,” founder and chair Zhou Hongyi said in a Chinese-language video on Friday night, translated by CNBC. It’s since been viewed more than 191,000 times on popular Chinese platform Weibo alone.

Whether or not it’s just another sales ploy by Zhou, who goes by the moniker “Red Shirt Big Uncle Zhou Hongyi,” the video captures an emerging reality: Companies pressured to cut costs may increasingly replace jobs with AI.