CNBC — 2026-05-11#

Lead Story#

The geopolitical shock of the escalating Middle East conflict continues to dominate global markets as President Donald Trump abruptly rejected Iran’s ceasefire counterproposal, sending energy prices surging just days ahead of a high-stakes Beijing summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The collapse of the fragile, month-old truce leaves the critical Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, choking off a fifth of the world’s oil supply and threatening severe downstream economic consequences.

Markets & Economics#

Global oil prices spiked Monday, with Brent crude settling at $104.21 and WTI advancing to $98.07 as traders priced in a prolonged disruption in the Middle East. Nordic American Tankers CEO on strait: Both U.S. and Iran are harming themselves highlighted the massive logistical challenges, as the global tanker fleet is left stranded or out of position. U.S. equities largely shrugged off the geopolitical risk to close at fresh record highs, though Treasury yields ticked up (the 10-year note hit 4.41%) as investors braced for Tuesday’s crucial April CPI report. As Bank of America’s Merci McGregor noted on “Closing Bell,” corporate profits and a strong labor market are fueling the rally, making any near-term weakness a buying opportunity. In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi hit a fresh record, buoyed by the global semiconductor boom, detailed in A ‘perfect positive storm’ is driving the South Korean market: Goldman Sachs. Domestically, April home sales disappoint as higher mortgage rates weigh on buyers broke down the latest housing data, which showed previously owned home sales remaining virtually flat as soaring borrowing costs sideline buyers.

Business & Earnings#

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the stand in the Musk v. Altman trial, testifying that he was entirely blindsided by Sam Altman’s temporary ouster and blasting the OpenAI board’s handling of the situation as “amateur city” in Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testifies in OpenAI. OpenAI’s enterprise expansion is simultaneously accelerating, with Chief Revenue Officer Denise Dresser announcing the new OpenAI Deployment Company to streamline corporate adoption of frontier models, as covered in OpenAI’s Denise Dresser discusses launch of new deployment company. Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco capitalized on the Middle East supply crunch, reporting a 26% jump in Q1 profit to $33.6 billion as its East-West pipeline hit maximum capacity to bypass the Hormuz blockade. In corporate restructuring, General Motors is laying off 500 to 600 salaried IT workers globally to cut costs. On the travel front, despite surging energy prices, Chris Sununu on rising jet fuel costs: Airlines are only passing a small portion onto the customer argued that carriers are absorbing the brunt of the shock for now.

Investing & Commentary#

The artificial intelligence supercycle shows no signs of slowing, with Wedbush’s Dan Ives predicting the tech-heavy index will reach 30,000 over the next year in Big tech earnings have validated the AI bulls’ thesis: Wedbush’s Ives. However, market leadership remains extraordinarily narrow; Jim Cramer warned in This market does not stop punishing the companies that disappointed, says Jim Cramer that Wall Street is aggressively dumping any stock not tied to data centers or AI, drawing stark comparisons to 1999. In the derivatives market, AI demand powers surge in options trades on silver broke down how traders are heavily buying calls on the iShares Silver Trust (SLV) as a backdoor play on thermal conductivity needs for AI data centers. Similarly, Bullish action into Cisco earnings highlighted a massive influx of call buying for the legacy networking giant as it pivots to cloud and AI technologies.

Also Worth Watching#

• Ken Griffin: We will create jobs in Miami as a consequence of NYC Mayor Mamdani’s wealth tax video: Citadel CEO Ken Griffin slams the proposed New York pied-à-terre tax, warning of accelerated wealth flight to Florida.
• Era of AI-enabled cyberattack orchestration arrives: Google’s Threat Intelligence Group says it successfully thwarted a major hacker group’s attempt to use AI to exploit zero-day vulnerabilities in a mass attack.
• Why Nintendo stopped chasing power — and changed the game: Nintendo shares plunged over 8% after the gaming giant issued a weak sales forecast for its upcoming Switch 2 and hiked the console’s price due to memory chip costs.
• Watch CNBC’s full interview with White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett: Hassett claims there is “no sign in the data” that AI is costing jobs, even as major tech firms like Block, Cloudflare, and Atlassian announce AI-driven layoffs.
• India eyeing Xi-Trump meeting for potential gains: Fmr Foreign Secretary: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to halt gold purchases and curb fuel use as the Iran war strains the nation’s trade balance and currency.