CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks End Higher, Inflation Eases Slightly, Nearly Everyone Has "Sticker Shock" 2/28/25

Episode Date: February 28, 2025

From Wall Street to Main Street, the latest on the markets and what it means for your money. Updated regularly on weekdays, featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business newsmakers. Anchored by CNBC's Jill Schneider.

I'm Jill Schneider, CNBC. Wall Street managed to wrap up a volatile day with strong gains, but it wasn't enough to erase the losses for the month. The Dow soared 600 points, the S&P 500 was up 92, and the NASDAQ jumped 300. Jeremy Siegel, professor of finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, says it will be interesting to see how European markets respond to the Trump-Zelensky shouting match when they open Monday morning.

I think a lot of the rally that we had seen over the past month, month and a half in Europe, was probably because of hopes of peace. And I mean, that's looking further away, certainly, as a result of what we saw there. I think Europe is going to be the main impact of this break between Zelensky and Trump. Inflation eased slightly in January, as worries accelerated over President Trump's tariff plans.

The latest reading from the Commerce Department showed the PCE, the Personal Consumption Expenditure's price index, that is the Fed's preferred inflation measure, increased 0.3 percent for the month and showed a 2.5 percent annual rate. The numbers were in line with estimates. Here's Fed Governor Randy Kroszner's takeaway on the data. We've seen a decline in consumer confidence. We saw an uptick in income, but a reduction of consumption. So if people are feeling a little bit uncertain, you know, maybe all of the tariff talk has made people a little bit, a little uncertain, they may have pulled back for a little bit. We have to see whether that's sort of a longer term trend. And certainly the Fed is not going to react to just one month worth of data.

Elon Musk's SpaceX has been given the green light from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly its massive Starship rocket once again. The rocket broke up during the company's seventh test flight in January. A few names traded at all time highs today. Autozone, O'Reilly Auto and Yum Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, all reaching record levels. Whether it's a dozen eggs or a new car, Americans are having a hard time adjusting to current prices. That's according to a recent report by Wells Fargo, which says nearly all Americans

report experiencing some form of sticker shock, regardless of income. According to the report, 90% of adults say they are still surprised by the cost of some goods, such as a bottle of water, a tank of gas, dinner out or concert tickets, and say the actual costs are between 55 percent and 200 percent higher than what they expected.

Jill Schneider, CNBC. Essential investing tools for wealth management. Plus, CNBC global market news and analysis tailored to your holdings. Become a smarter investor with the power of CNBC Pro. Go to CNBC.com slash get pro now.