Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils defends Jason Asemota #5 of the Baylor Bears during the second round of the 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at Lenovo Center on March 23, 2025 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
- Stocks jumped Monday, led by Tesla.
- President Donald Trump's upcoming tariff plans are still unclear.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Marching along
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Stocks jumped on Monday as investors hoped that President Donald Trump will soften some of his proposed tariff plans. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added nearly 600 points, or 1.4%, while the S&P 500 rose 1.76% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 2.27%. Consumer discretionary stocks, which have made up the worst-performing sector so far this year, led the S&P 500 higher for the day. Follow live market updates.
2. Tariffs, again
Monday brought more trade confusion, as President Donald Trump said he would soon announce tariffs on automobiles, pharmaceuticals and other industries. But even as he floated that possibility, the president said he "may give a lot of countries breaks" on his anticipated reciprocal tariffs against other countries, which he has said are set to take effect April 2. His latest comments came on the same day he said countries that purchase oil from Venezuela will pay 25% tariff on any trade with the U.S. Investors have been worried about a potential rise in inflation and recession ahead of Trump's pledged tariff moves.
3. Tesla's ups and downs
Tesla shares saw their biggest gain of the year Monday, rising 12% and making Tesla the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 for the day. The jump comes after the electric vehicle maker's stock has dropped for nine consecutive weeks due to controversy surrounding CEO Elon Musk's increasing political activities. It also came on the same day that the FBI launched a task force to investigate attacks on Tesla vehicles. There have been at least 80 reported cases of vandalism or arson of Teslas in the U.S. and Canada, as well as peaceful protests at Tesla showrooms, NBC News reported.
4. What's next?
Eli Lilly plans to release key data on its once-daily obesity pill, orforglipron, this year, which could help the company solidify its place in the weight loss and diabetes drug market. The results of late-stage clinical trials of the drug are expected to be some of the biggest of the year in the pharmaceutical industry. The pill could be a new, needle-free alternative in the booming weight loss drug market and potentially broaden access for patients across the country at a time when injections have been facing supply constraints.
Money Report
5. Buffett's bracket
For the first time since he launched the contest in 2016, Warren Buffett is giving an employee a $1 million grand prize for winning his company's NCAA bracket competition. The prize went to an anonymous employee from aviation training company FlightSafety International, a subsidiary of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, who correctly picked 31 out of 32 games in the first round of the men's college basketball tournament known as March Madness. Buffett had relaxed the rules multiple times over the past nearly 10 years.
— CNBC's Pia Singh, Kevin Breuninger, Hakyung Kim, Dan Mangan, Annika Kim Constantino and Yun Li contributed to this report.
