CNBC Daily Open: Trump tariff restraint sends markets higher

This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

Trump to announce AI infrastructure investment
President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a joint venture — Stargate — with OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank invest pledging to invest an initial $100 billion and up to $500 billion over the next four years in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.

Trump’s SEC launching ‘crypto task force’
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced acting Chair Mark Uyeda has launched a “crypto task force” aimed at “developing a comprehensive and clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.” The SEC added the panel’s task will be to develop a clear set of rules while also addressing issues regarding registration of coins. The announcement sent Bitcoin up some 2.4% to more than $106,000.

Netflix surges in stellar results, raises prices
Shares of Netflix climbed sharply after the company announced its fourth-quarter results that beat revenue and profit expectations and as it surpassed 300 million paid memberships during the quarter. The company will hike prices of most of its U.S. plans. It will also raise prices in Canada, Portugal and Argentina.

Markets climb on Trump tariff delay
Stocks on Wall Street advanced on Tuesday as investors assessed that Trump’s comments and first-day actions around international trade were a bit softer than initially believed. The president stopped short of authorizing new levies on his first day back in the Oval Office, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average up over 500 points, or 1.24%. The S&P 500 gained 0.88%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.64%. Over in Europe, the pan-European Stoxx 600 closed around 0.4% higher. 

[PRO] A stock market that doesn’t make sense
The stock market is once again trading near record highs, but the investment landscape is full of contradictions that are hard to balance, according to Deutsche Bank macro strategist Henry Allen. He pointed to several parts of the market where investors appear to be betting on the more optimistic of possible outcomes, despite some evidence that they should be more cautious.

“I always say tariffs are the most beautiful words to me in the dictionary,” President Donald Trump said at his inauguration.  

Trump’s first day in the Oval Office, however, seemed light on any immediate action on that front. 

Although he did announce he was “considering” 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, as well as a 10% tariff on China. For reference, the 47th president had threatened imposing a global tariff of 10%-20% and a whopping 60% tariff on China on the campaign trail. 

Investors appear to have taken Trump’s first day well, with key U.S. benchmarks rising Tuesday.

“President Trump’s Inauguration Day policy announcements on tariffs were more benign than expected,” said Alec Phillips, chief U.S. political economist at Goldman Sachs, in a note to clients. “For now, it is a lower priority than we would have expected.” 

China, on its part, has tried to dissuade Trump on tariffs with vice premier Ding Xuexiang saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos that “Protectionism leads no where. [A] trade war has no winners.”

Ding referenced Chinese president Xi Jinping’s 2017 speech: “Pursuing protectionism is just like locking one’s self in a dark room. Wind and rain might be kept outside but so are light and air.”

Tariffs could dent Trump’s case for a “golden age” for the U.S. Last year, Morgan Stanley’s chief economist warned that tariffs would push down U.S. growth “a great deal” in 2026.

One might say that with Trump, tariffs will be him potentially sowing the wind, and reaping the whirlwind. 

— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Brian Evans, Evelyn Cheng and Lee Ying Shan contributed to this report.