US President Donald Trump on television during a news broadcast on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on January 21, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open informs investors about everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.
What you need to know today
Trump to announce investment in AI infrastructure
President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a joint venture — Stargate — with investment from OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank committing to invest an initial $100 billion and up to $500 billion over the next four years in artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.
Kevin O’Leary says the law prevents him from buying TikTok
Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary is still interested in doing business with TikTok, but according to the current law, this is not possiblehe told CNBC. On Monday, Trump delayed the imposition of the law for 75 days which would effectively ban TikTok in the United States, allowing “an opportunity to determine the appropriate course of action.”
Netflix records great results, raises prices
Shares of Netflix rose sharply after the company announced results for the fourth quarter which beat revenue and profit expectations and surpassed 300 million paid memberships during the quarter. The company will raise the prices of most US plans. It will also raise prices in Canada, Portugal and Argentina.
Markets rise on Trump’s tariff delay
Stocks on Wall Street advanced on Tuesday as investors judged that Trump’s first-day comments and actions on international trade were somewhat softer than initially believed. The president did not approve the new levies on his first day in the Oval Office, sending Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 500 points or 1.24%. The S&P 500 received 0.88 percent, and Nasdaq Composite increased by 0.64 percent. Asian markets were more mixed, with Japan and South Korea posting gains, but Chinese markets were in negative territory.
[PRO] A stock market that makes no sense
The stock market is once again trading near record highs, but the investment landscape is full of contradictions that are difficult 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 more optimistic possible outcomes, despite some evidence that they should be more cautious.
Conclusion
“I always say tariffs are the nicest words in the dictionary to me,” President Donald Trump said at his inauguration.
Trump’s first day in the Oval Office, however, seemed easy for any immediate action on that front.
Although he announced that he was “considering” tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico, as well as on 10% duty for China. For reference, the 47th president threatened to impose global tariffs of 10%-20% and tariffs of a whopping 60% on China during the campaign.
Investors seem to have weathered Trump’s first day well, with key US benchmarks on Tuesday.
“President Trump’s inauguration day tariff policy announcements were more benign than expected,” Alec Phillips, chief U.S. policy economist at Goldman Sachs, said in a note to clients. “For now, it’s a lower priority than we would expect.”
China, for its part, tried to dissuade Trump from tariffs said Vice President Ding Xuexiang at the World Economic Forum in Davos that “Protectionism leads nowhere. [A] A trade war has no winners.”
Ding referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 2017 speech: “Implementing protectionism is like locking yourself in a dark room. Wind and rain can stay out, but so can light and air.”
Tariffs could jeopardize Trump’s case for a “golden age” for the US Last year, Morgan Stanley’s chief economist has warned that tariffs will “significantly” reduce US growth in 2026.
It could be said that with Trump tariffs will potentially sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Brian Evans, Evelyn Cheng and Lee Ying Shan contributed to this report.
