CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Market's Best Week Since April, Airbnb Rallies, Burger King Leapfrogs Wendy's 8-7-2026

Episode Date: August 7, 2026

The latest in business, financial, and market news and how it impacts your money, reported by CNBC's Peter Schacknow Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Peter Shack now, CNBC. Wall Street has wrapped up its best week in almost four months, solidified by a positive Friday following a weaker than expected July jobs report. The Dow rose 152 points to close at 54,037. The S&P 500 gained 6 tenths of a percent or 48 points, good enough to give the S&P another record close. The NASDAQ rallied 1.3% or 342 points. The percentage gains for the major averages,

their largest since the week, ending April 17th. The U.S. economy unexpectedly lost 23,000 jobs last month, lessening fears of a Fed interest rate hike in September. But Gabelli Funds Growth Equity's portfolio manager John Belton says investors should be less focused on rates and more on corporate bottom lines. I think things have gone a little bit better than fine this earning season. I think this has been one of the best earning seasons I can remember. I think earnings growth for the S&P 500 up something like high 20s on an underlying basis,

better than expected. And I think for tech, it's been kind of a similar story, some of the best earnings we've seen in a few years at least. And the day's top performer in the S&P 500 was an earnings story, Airbnb jumping more than 17% on upbeat quarterly numbers and an improved revenue forecast. Despite the earnings enthusiasm, investors are likely to refocus on interest rates next week when the earnings calendar lightens and the government is scheduled to release the latest consumer and producer price indexes. With the average U.S. new car price now just under $50,000, Americans are shying away from so-called premium vehicles.

CNBC's Phila-Boe tells us about a J.D. Power survey showing a shrinking market share for those high-end cars. It has dropped now to its lowest level since 2020 here in the United States. People are not completely giving up on premium vehicles, but it was down year-over-year, first-half sales, about 13.3% of the market. Where are those people going? increasingly they are turning to the mainstream models. So somebody may be moving out of a BMW into a Toyota or out of a Mercedes into a Ford. Burger King has overtaken Wendy's to become the second largest burger chain in the U.S.

behind McDonald's. Burger King had lost the number two slot to Wendy's six years ago. But Wendy's has seen sales slump in recent years. Its stock rose more than 4% today after it slashed its dividend withdrew its outlook and promised a full strategic turnaround plan. Peter Shack now, see NBC.