Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Bargaining chips
President Donald Trump has a mandate for chipmakers: Manufacture domestically, or pay a hefty price. Trump said Wednesday that he would slap 100% tariffs on imported semiconductors and chips. But for those manufacturing in the U.S., he said, “there will be no charge.” Still, stock futures rose Thursday morning as investors were encouraged by the policy’s broad exemptions. The latest trade announcement comes as Trump’s long-awaited plan for reciprocal tariffs takes effect Thursday. Follow live market updates here.
2. Apple of his eye
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump (L) looks on during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on August 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Win Mcnamee | Getty Images
Apple, meanwhile, got a warm reception at the White House on Wednesday. Apple CEO Tim Cook, standing alongside Trump in the Oval Office, unveiled plans for his company to spend $100 billion on U.S. firms and suppliers over the next four years. That’s in addition to a $500 billion investment Apple announced in February. Apple will shell out $2.5 billion for an expansion that will allow glass for iPhones and Apple Watches to be made at Corning’s U.S. facilities. To mark the occasion, Cook gifted Trump with a souvenir based around Corning’s glass. Shares of Apple jumped 5% in Wednesday’s session ahead of the event, marking it the stock’s best day in almost three months. Elsewhere at the intersection of tech and government, OpenAI said it would give its ChatGPT enterprise product to U.S. federal agencies for just $1 — no, that’s not a typo — through the next year.
3. Threading the needle
An Eli Lilly & Co. logo at the company’s offices in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
Emilio Parra Doiztua | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Wegovy and Ozempic could have some new competition. Eli Lilly said its daily obesity pill, called orforglipron, helped patients lose about 12% of their body weight in a late-stage trial. Notably, some doctors said the results were comparable to Novo Nordisk‘s Wegovy. With the trial results, CNBC’s Annika Kim Constantino reports, orforglipron moves closer to becoming the first needle-free alternative in the weight-loss and diabetes drug market.
4. Reworking retirement plans
Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Thursday allowing alternative assets, such as private equity and cryptocurrency, into 401(k)s. As CNBC’s Sarah Min reports, this would mark a major boost for the alternative asset industry, which has called for greater adoption of private holdings in defined contribution plans. The development comes as the presence of private markets in 401(k)s has already started to take off and has caught the attention of providers like BlackRock.
5. Street wear
Dan Ives, Wedbush Securities
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
If you have seen Wedbush analyst Dan Ives on CNBC over the years, you’ve likely noticed not just his bullish tech takes but his eccentric clothing. And, if you’ve ever considered mimicking his fashion choices, you’re in luck. Ives launched a clothing line on Thursday that includes a graffiti-style button-down shirt and polo. One item even features a portrait of Ives on the sleeve. “I dress differently. I go to the beat of a different drum, but it’s just like I do in terms of picking stocks,” Ives told CNBC ahead of the launch. “The clothing is symbolic of just the way that I attack investing.”
— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger, Annika Kim Constantino, Kif Leswing and Sarah Min contributed to this report.
