iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF
European markets open lower as Iran war unsettles traders
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable meeting on the administration’s “ratepayer protection pledge” in the Indian Treaty Room at the White House on March 4, 2026 in Washington, DC. Win McNamee | Getty Images LONDON — European stocks were in the red again on Thursday as market participants followed geopolitical developments in the […]
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CNBC Daily Open: China sets lowest growth target in decades
A plume of smoke rises after a strike on Tehran on March 4, 2026. Atta Kenare | AFP | Getty Images What you need to know today China on Thursday set its GDP growth target for 2026 at 4.5% to 5% — the lowest target on record going back to the early 1990s — according […]
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China to reportedly boost defense spending by 7%, slowest pace since 2021
Key Points China reportedly plans to raise defense spending by 7% this year, the slowest increase since 2021. China kicks off an 8-day parliamentary meeting Thursday. Beijing ranks second to the U.S. in military spending. Source
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The U.S. insists the Iran conflict won’t be a ‘forever war.’ Experts beg to differ
Plumes of smoke rise over the skyline on March 3, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. Majid Saeedi | Getty Images Since the U.S. and Israel launched surprise strikes on Iran last weekend, Washington has been keen to stress that the military action will be over in a matter of weeks and won’t turn into a so-called […]
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Defense tech companies are dropping Claude after Pentagon’s Anthropic blacklist
Dario Amodei, co-founder and chief executive officer of Anthropic, at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Prakash Singh | Bloomberg | Getty Images Following the Trump administration’s decision on Friday to blacklist Anthropic and designate its technology a supply chain risk, defense tech companies are telling employees to […]
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Gulf oil trade, Pentagon’s AI usage, Gen Z’s analog obsession and more in Morning Squawk
This is CNBC’s Morning Squawk newsletter. Subscribe here to receive future editions in your inbox. Happy Wednesday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC this morning that President Donald Trump’s 15% global tariff would be implemented this week. He also said the U.S. would make “a series of announcements” to support oil trade in the Gulf. Stock futures […]
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Remember Twitter? Elon Musk expected to testify over flip-flop in $44 billion buyout
Elon Musk looks on as President Donald Trump speaks at the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Nov. 19, 2025. Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images Since buying Twitter for around $44 billion in late 2022, Elon Musk has changed the name to X, merged […]
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CNBC Daily Open: Markets take a beating despite Trump’s reassurances
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from the media during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office of the White House on March 03, 2026 in Washington, DC. Win Mcnamee | Getty Images What you need to know today South Korea’s Kospi recorded its worst day on record, plunging 12% on […]
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Iran war live updates: Tehran keeps up strikes as Gulf states deny missile shortages
Middle East conflict adds to central bank headaches as oil extends four-day rally A widening Middle East conflict has posed a fresh test for global central banks, as fears of an oil shock and renewed inflation risks complicate policymakers’ calculus for shoring up growth. Brent crude prices extended four days of gains, rising 1.6% to $82.76 […]
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CNBC Daily Open: Trump promises insurance and protection for Gulf shipping
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Chancellor Merz (CDU) at the White House. Topics include the war in Iran, the tariff dispute between the EU and the USA, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and China policy. Kay Nietfeld | Picture Alliance | Getty Images What you need to know today […]
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