Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. CPI watch
2. Cure-all?
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures on the day he signs an executive order on prescription drug pricing, next to U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
Nathan Howard | Reuters
3. Victory lap
Containers are pictured at the Yantian port in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China May 9, 2025.
Tingshu Wang | Reuters
The U.S. and China appear to have avoided an all-out trade war, at least for now, and both countries are declaring victory. Trump on Monday said China “agreed to open up” and suspend its trade barriers as part of the temporary tariff reduction deal, while Beijing cast the agreement as a vindication of its negotiating strategy. “China’s firm countermeasures and resolute stance have been highly effective,” one social media account linked to China’s national broadcaster posted. Meanwhile, the Treasury Department reported a record $16.3 billion in customs duties in April as revenue from Trump’s tariffs began to flow in. That’s 86% more than the $8.75 billion collected in March and more than double the $7.1 billion in April 2024.
4. New home base
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21st, 2025.
Gerry Miller | CNBC
The S&P 500 just announced its newest member. Coinbase will join the benchmark index before trading on May 19, S&P Dow Jones Indices said Monday, causing shares of the cryptocurrency exchange to jump nearly 11% in extended trading. The move comes just days after Bitcoin jumped back above $100,000 for the first time since February. Since going public via a direct listing in 2021, Coinbase has been a volatile stock. It currently trades far below its 2021 peak and has underperformed Bitcoin so far this year, dropping 17% while the cryptocurrency is up 10%. Coinbase will replace Discover Financial Services, which is in the process of being acquired by Capital One Financial.
5. Stepping down
UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 1, 2024.
Kent Nishimura | Getty Images
Shares of UnitedHealth Group dropped more than 10% before the bell Tuesday after the insurer suspended its 2025 guidance and announced that CEO Andrew Witty is stepping down for personal reasons. Stephen Hemsley, who previously served as UnitedHealth’s CEO from 2006 to 2017, will take Witty’s place, effective immediately. The company cited higher-than-expected medical costs as a reason for suspending its guidance. The announcement comes weeks after UnitedHealth reported its first quarterly earnings miss since 2008 and slashed its annual profit forecast.
— CNBC’s Brian Evans, Fred Imbert, Yun Li, Annika Kim Constantino, Kevin Breuninger, Eunice Yoon, Erin Doherty, Jeff Cox, Ari Levy and Reuters contributed to this report.
