Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaks to the media at a media conference in a conference room of the Iranian Parliament building in Tehran, Iran on December 2, 2025.
Morteza Nicoubzal | Nurfoto | getty images
Hello, I am Annick Bao writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
If it seems like it’s a lot to keep track of – that’s because it is.
Trump extended the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire by three weeks, allowing diplomats more respite, while anger at Iran over the Strait of Hormuz grows.
Investors, who by now had somewhat mastered the art of looking beyond the headlines, remained patient. But the uncertain prospect of a permanent end to the war will keep that enthusiasm in check.
Good news? It’s almost the weekend, although it’s worth remembering that the Iran war began almost two months ago on Saturday.
What you need to know today
“The meeting was great!” Trump said in a satya social post Announcement of extension of temporary ceasefire. “The United States is going to work with Lebanon to help protect itself from Hezbollah,” Trump wrote, referring to the Iran-backed militia group.
Meanwhile, the warring powers seized ships from both Iran and the US and Trump ordered the US Navy to “shoot at and kill any boats” laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
Amid all the mixed messages, US stocks made a comeback as investors turned cautious about the weak ceasefire between the US and Iran as well as the unclear outlook for a peace deal. Stock futures were little changed, while Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed.
Brent oil futures closed nearly 3% higher at $105.07 a barrel on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate futures also closed up nearly 3% at $95.85. They were about 1% higher on Friday.
The nearly two-month-old conflict has triggered warnings of “the greatest energy security threat in history,” Fatih Birol, head of the International Energy Agency, or IEA, told CNBC on Thursday.
“To date, we have lost 13 million barrels of oil per day … and there are major disruptions to critical commodities,” Birol told Steve Sedgwick virtually. join live in Singapore.
Also speaking at the event was former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said U.S. “economic pressure” has led Canadian companies to seek deals with China, while also expressing his frustration that international financial institutions are no longer fit for purpose.
On the business front: Meta plans to lay off 10% of its workforce, around 8,000 employees, as it continues to increase AI investments. Nike announced a new round of layoffs, affecting approximately 1,400 employees across the organization, most of whom were concentrated in its technology department.
After several rounds of layoffs last year, Microsoft plans to offer voluntary employee buyouts for the first time, while adjusting the way it distributes stock as annual awards to employees to better recognize high performance.
– Annick Bao
And finally…
DOJ says US soldier arrested for winning $400K in Polymarket bet on Maduro capture
A US Army Special Forces master sergeant was arrested on charges of using classified information to make highly profitable bets on the Polymarket prediction market related to the US military mission to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Department of Justice Said on Thursday.
Havildar, gannon ken van dyke“Involved in the planning and execution of Operation Absolute Resolve,” which captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in early January, the DOJ said.
His arrest comes as Polymarket and Kalshi have grown in popularity and concerns have grown about people with insider information placing bets on those prediction market platforms.
Van Dyke has been charged with three counts of violating the Commodity Exchange Act, one count of wire fraud and one count of unlawful monetary transaction. He is expected to be arraigned before a magistrate judge in federal court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on Thursday evening.
– Dan Mangan, Jim Forkin
