Taken from CNBC’s Daily Open, our international markets newsletter — Subscribe today
U.S. President Donald Trump’s whirlwind blitz through the bureaucracy, economic policy and geopolitical affairs isn’t ending. As top U.S. officials meet their Russian counterparts for high-level talks, Trump suggested to reporters that Ukraine was somehow responsible for inciting Moscow’s invasion of the country.
On other fronts, however, Trump is leaving things undisturbed. His administration left intact stiff rules — put in place during former U.S. President Joe Biden’s term — overseeing corporate mergers. That could come as a let-down to Wall Street, which had been looking forward to an uptick in deals because of expectations that the Trump administration would be pro-business and less opposed to mergers and acquisitions.
But that didn’t disappoint investors much. The S&P 500 set a new closing record on Tuesday. And, further from Trump, the European Stoxx 600 also notched a fresh high.
What you need to know today
Records on both sides of the Atlantic
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 added 0.24% to close at a fresh high of 6,129.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat and the Nasdaq Composite ticked up 0.07%. However, Meta shares snapped their 20-day winning streak. Over in Europe, the continent’s regional Stoxx 600 index also notched a record close after climbing 0.32%. European defense stocks continued marching higher, with Lubawa jumping 14% and Renk Group gaining 2.7%.
Optimism over potential Intel split
Intel shares surged 16.1% on Tuesday after news broke that Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing are reportedly eyeing deals that could break up the U.S. chipmaker. After enjoying its best day since March 2020, Intel’s stock closed at $27.39. With Tuesday’s gains, its shares are up nearly 31% this year following a 60% slump in 2024. Broadcom shares dipped 1.9%, while TSMC dipped less than 0.6%.
Strict merger rules left intact
The Trump administration on Tuesday said it will keep using strict guidelines, adopted during former U.S. President Joe Biden’s term, to review proposed corporate mergers. The decision is a victory for the anticorporate wing of the Trump administration, embodied by Vice President JD Vance, but a blow to Wall Street, which had been anticipating more deals under a loosened framework for evaluating proposed mergers.
Musk’s xAI launches Grok 3
Elon Musk’s xAI on Tuesday announced its latest artificial intelligence model, Grok 3, claiming it can outperform offerings from OpenAI and China’s DeepSeek based on early testing. The xAI team also said it was launching a new product called “Deep Search,” which would act as a “next generation search engine.”
U.S. meets Russia in Saudi Arabia
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Tuesday morning in Saudi Arabia, the first formal sit-down meeting between top U.S. and Russian diplomats since January 2022. Both sides emphasized that talks were preliminary. On the same day, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Ukraine “should never have started it,” referring to Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022.
[PRO] Divided over Europe’s outperformance of U.S.
The Stoxx 600 index rose 6.3% in January, far higher than the 2.7% gain of the S&P 500. The former’s outperformance has persisted into February, rising more than the U.S. broad-based index month to date. While some analysts are optimistic the trend can endure, others warn that “European investors may need to enjoy it while it lasts” because of one fundamental driver of markets
And finally…
Huawei launches $3,660 trifold phone outside of China as it charts international comeback
Huawei launched the Mate XT on Tuesday, pricing it at 3,499 euros ($3,660). The handset was released in China last year and drew global intrigue for being the first-ever trifold phone. Normal foldable devices can be folded once in half, either vertically or horizontally. The Mate XT has two points at which it can fold and can display content on a single, double or triple screen.
Huawei was once the biggest smartphone player in the world. U.S. sanctions beginning in 2019 cut off Huawei’s access to advance chips and Google’s Android operating system, causing its market share to plunge. However, in China, Huawei’s market share grew to 17% in 2024 from 12% the year before, according to the IDC. Huawei is hoping to bring that momentum to its overseas market.
