Markets prepare for Trump 2.0

This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open informs investors about everything they need to know, wherever they are. Do you like what you see? You can subscribe here.

Clock restarted for TikTok
TikTok said in a statement on from TikTok. On Saturday, Perplexity AI submitted an offer to TikTok parent company ByteDance to create a new merged entity combining Perplexity, TikTok US and new financial partners, CNBC has learned.

First winning week for US stocks in 2025
US markets rose on Friday to end the week higher for the first time in 2025. Stoxx 600 Index climbed 0.69%. United Kingdom FTSE100 rose 1.35% to close at a record high. The index was driven by mining stocks, which rose following the announcement that Glencore would have considered a merger with Rio Tinto although the talks are no longer active.

TSMC confident in continued financing under Trump
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company expects it will continue to receive the $6.6 billion promised under the Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act even after Trump takes office, said Wendell Huang, director financial officer of TSMC, to CNBC in an exclusive interview. On the campaign trail, Trump criticized the CHIPS Act and accused Taiwan of stealing the U.S. chip trade.

Hamas and Israel exchange hostages and prisoners
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect on Sunday. Hamas released three women in Israel, its first group of hostages, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners released by Israel. The process will continue over the coming weeks, during which Hamas will release 33 of the 98 Israeli and foreign hostages while Israel returns the Palestinian prisoners.

(PRO) Trump will determine the direction of the markets
Trump’s inauguration will take place later Monday. Investors will want to keep an eye on what executive orders Trump signs on the first day of his presidency, particularly regarding tariffs and corporate policies. These orders could chart the direction of stocks over a much longer period than the short term.

THE S&P500 surged above the shiny 6,000 level after Trump’s election victory, but largely erased all its gains and returned to its pre-election level in recent weeks. As Trump prepares to enter the White House, it appears investors are once again preparing to play the market based on his agenda.

Stocks ultimately ended the week on a positive note, their first weekly gain of the year. For the week, the S&P500 advanced by 2.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 3.7%, their best weekly performance since the week of the US presidential election in November. THE Nasdaq Composite added 2.5%, its best week since early December.

Banks were a major contributor to the rise in indexes, as better-than-expected results from big banks pushed their shares higher. Actions of Goldman Sachs increased by around 12% over the week and JPMorgan Chase climbed 8% during the same period. Overall, the financial sector rose more than 6% last week, outperforming the S&P.

Trump’s tenure as president could provide further momentum to banking stocks. Growing business and consumer confidence, expanded tax cuts and financial sector deregulation are potential drivers of the sector, according to Chris Senyek, chief investment strategist at Wolfe Research.

“We still view the financial sector as the biggest sectoral winner under the Trump administration,” Senyek wrote in a note Friday.

That said, in addition to the anticipation of Trump’s presence in the Oval Office, December’s consecutive moderate inflation figures also boosted market sentiment: all market sectors ended the week in the green.

Better-than-expected economic data earlier this week helped “rekindle the Goldilocks narrative for stocks, and likely prompted renewed risk-taking.” Barclays wrote strategist Emmanuel Cau in a note on Friday.

As a general rule, any change involves increased risks. That’s true with Trump 2.0 – but as the number “two” suggests, a change we’ve already seen could ease that uncertainty just a little bit.

— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Hakyung Kim and Sarah Min contributed to this report.