U.S. President Donald Trump attends to sign an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 31, 2026.
Evan Vucci | Reuters
Hello, this is Dylan Butts writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
U.S. markets opened the second quarter in the green on Wednesday, extending gains for a second straight session as hopes for de-escalation in the Middle East lifted sentiment.
But, as we’ve learned throughout the conflict, that momentum can accelerate or reverse at the drop of a single comment by U.S. President Donald Trump — something we may be in for this morning as he prepares to address the nation at 9 p.m. ET.
Trump is expected to provide the latest update on Iran ceasefire talks and the future of U.S. military involvement in the region. Here’s the latest on the lead-up to the address:
What you need to know today
All three major U.S. indexes rose Wednesday as investors grew more optimistic that an end to the U.S.-Iran war could be in sight.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite gained 0.72% and 1.16%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 224.23 points, or 0.48%. U.S. stock futures were little changed after the market close as traders awaited Trump’s address on the war in the Middle East.
Markets may have already gotten a preview of what might be discussed in the address. Earlier Wednesday, Trump claimed that Iran’s “New Regime President” had asked the U.S. for a ceasefire.
But the U.S. would “consider” the request only once the Strait of Hormuz is “open, free, and clear,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Until then, we are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” he wrote.
However, Tehran has denied requesting a ceasefire in comments to Al Jazeera. A day earlier, an Iranian official also told the outlet that “At present there is no negotiation.”
Despite Washington signaling interest in a ceasefire, the war has very much continued. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that U.S. bombers carried out a strike in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, after Trump posted a video showing huge explosions.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard later responded with attack threats on a swath of U.S. tech companies operating in the Middle East, including Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft and Google.
Speaking of American tech companies, major developments have been unfolding in the industry this week. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which also owns his AI company xAI, confidentially filed for an IPO on Wednesday, setting the stage for a record offering. The move comes just a day after OpenAI closed a record-breaking funding round ahead of its expected IPO.
SpaceX is the world’s leading private space company and is viewed as NASA’s primary commercial partner. On Wednesday, NASA launched its first crewed lunar mission in half a century.
— Dylan Butts
And finally…
Trump calls U.S. ‘STUPID’ for birthright citizenship after attending Supreme Court arguments.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday on whether an executive order by President Donald Trump can upend what has long been the constitutional guarantee of citizenship for people born in the U.S., regardless of their parents’ immigration status.
Trump was in the courtroom for the arguments in the birthright citizenship case known as Trump v. Barbara, the first time a sitting president has attended such a session.
Trump stayed for more than an hour, listening to the presentation by Solicitor General D. John Sauer, who defended the executive order, and then left less than 15 minutes after a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union argued against his order.
“We are the only Country in the World STUPID enough to allow ‘Birthright’ Citizenship!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post after leaving.
— Dan Mangan
