CNBC Daily Open: Investors seem conditioned to expect Trump reversals

The heaviest of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs — a full 145% on imports of Chinese goods — was, once again, delayed for another 90 days.

The move should be a huge relief not just to investors, but perhaps most of the population on Earth. The U.S. and China are the two largest economies in the world, according to World Bank data, and a trade war in which imports of each other’s goods double in price would probably stymie, if not cripple, the global economy.

But markets were mostly unmoved. Well, they did move — lower. The three big U.S. stock indexes retreated Monday as this outcome was more or less expected, since both sides had earlier telegraphed an extension of the tariff pause.

Investors could have also been conditioned to expect flip-flopping from Trump, such that threats, promises, criticisms and praises don’t carry as much heft as they should anymore. On Monday, Trump said Intel’s CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s “success and rise is an amazing story,” after describing Tan as “highly CONFLICTED” the week before.

There’s a Freudian idea in which an individual projects their thoughts and feelings to another person. Researchers are, well, conflicted, on the veracity of the phenomenon, but empirical observation suggests it’s not uncommon.

What Trump’s Nvidia and AMD China deal means for the world

Nvidia and AMD have agreed to share some of their revenue from sales to China with the U.S. government, according to several reports.

The arrangement crafted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is “unusual,” analysts told CNBC, but underscores the transactional nature of the current White House leader. Meanwhile, investors see the move as broadly positive for both Nvidia and AMD, which can again secure access to the Chinese market.

— Arjun Kharpal