Trump touches down in Beijing as U.S. prices heat up

Hello, this is Dylan Butts writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

President Donald Trump has landed in Beijing, accompanied by a high-profile group of American CEOs, setting the stage for crucial meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid escalating geopolitical and economic tensions. 

Markets across Asia-Pacific are watching closely for any breakthroughs on trade, technology, and regional security.

Enjoy!

The President is being accompanied on the trip by a group of executives from some of America’s most valuable companies, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. 

Trump and Xi are expected to cover tariffs, rare earths, artificial intelligence, the Iran war and Taiwan. Experts anticipate that they may announce large Chinese orders for American planes and soybeans when the meetings conclude. 

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Thursday in the leadup to the meeting. In the U.S., futures were little changed. 

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose to a new all-time high as traders’ enthusiasm for the technology trade overshadowed another hotter-than-expected inflation report. 

U.S. wholesale inflation data delivered a fresh jolt on Wednesday, with prices surging 6% year-over-year in April, the sharpest annual gain since 2022. The hotter-than-expected reading adds pressure on Federal Reserve leadership and complicates the economic backdrop as Trump engages in high-level diplomacy.

In a key development for U.S. monetary policy, Kevin Warsh has secured Senate confirmation as the next chair of the Fed. His leadership will be immediately tested by sticky inflation and potential rate implications from global energy shocks.

Meanwhile, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has continued to hurt global oil flows, with OPEC reporting a 30% since the start of the Iran war in late February. It also warned of significant risks to demand growth this year.

— Dylan Butts 

Japan’s global defense business may be on the cusp of a big breakout

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