Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Jerusalem, March 19, 2026.
Ronen Zvulun | Reuters
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd writing to you from London. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
Conflicting messages for the markets to contend with this morning. The threat of a “ground component” from Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu has to be considered alongside a U.S. plan to ease sanctions on Iranian oil — all major factors playing into early trade. In Europe, leaders burn the midnight oil but offer little more than rhetoric on their stance to the widening conflict. The week looks set to end in the red for stocks across the globe — but with all these developments — Friday’s session could be a volatile one.
What you need to know today
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that “Iran is being decimated” as the U.S. and Israel target its ballistic missile and nuclear programs from the air — but he added that meaningful regime change will require a “ground component.”
“You don’t want to replace one ayatollah with another,” Netanyahu said at a press conference. “You don’t want to replace Hitler with Hitler.”
European leaders talked late into the night in Brussels, calling for a moratorium on strikes against energy and water facilities in the Middle East, urging “maximum restraint” in the conflict. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the war was causing “great instability,” while French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated that France was ready to support traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, when the time is right.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump made a blunt historical reference during his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday, recalling the events of Pearl Harbor.
Asked why Washington did not notify allies before striking Iran, Trump said the U.S. wanted to maintain the element of surprise. Then, addressing the Japanese reporter who asked the question, he added: “Who knows better about that. Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor? You believe in surprise much more so than I.”
All these developments have led to a confusing picture for markets as they close out a week marked by steep declines. Asian trade was mixed, futures in Europe and the U.S. are lacking direction in early trade, while oil prices fell on a U.S. suggestion that Washington could lift sanctions on some Iranian crude.
— Leonie Kidd
And finally…
Jensen Huang doesn’t need a new chip. He needs a new moat.
Nvidia dominated the first era of AI — and CEO Jensen Huang is making sure it owns the next one.
He’s turning Nvidia from a chipmaker that’s helping to drive a market cycle into the operating system for the future of artificial intelligence.
At Nvidia’s annual developer conference, GTC, Huang launched NemoClaw, an open-source, chip-agnostic platform for building and deploying AI agents – autonomous software programs at the center of the latest advancements in the industry.
— Deirdre Bosa, Jasmine Wu
