CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Higher Ahead of Memorial Day Market Holiday, Nasdaq Record High, Gas Prices To Fall Through the Summer 5/24/24

Episode Date: May 24, 2024

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 and reported by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Edinger, CNBC. Wall Street opens Tuesday morning after the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. With just four trading days left in the month of May and with the NASDAQ at a fresh record high. On Friday, stocks were higher. The Dow barely. It fell from its earlier highs but finished in the green up four points. The S&P 500 index up 36 points, sitting around 5,300. The NASDAQ was up 184 points on Friday. That was more than 1%. Here's where the major averages are year to date. Not a bad time to take a peek at a retirement account if it's got an S&P

500 index fund in there. The S&P up 11% this year so far. The Dow is up 3%, the Nasdaq up 12%. Investors are kind of loving where things are right now. People expect a generally positive summer tone in an election year, and you have this patient Fed fitting well with an idea of an economy that's still chugging along, but maybe slowing in certain ways. So kind of, it is Goldilocks until further notice. CNBC's Mike Santoli. And some investors are optimistic for the summer. Historically, you tend to get a summer rally in an election year, and I get it, every time's different,

but we really think that flush out we had, the 5.5% pullback, minor pullback we had last month, was enough, and now we're back to the bull market, and things still look good to us. The Carson Group's Ryan Dietrich on CNBC. Stocks are up and gas prices are down and they're going to keep heading that way according to GasBuddy. The forecast is for prices at the pump to keep falling all through the summer. Good news for anyone hitting the road this summer is we expect progressive decreases between Memorial Day, July 4, and then Labor Day.

Of course, there are the typical caveats. Mother Nature, hurricane season is a big wild card. Gas buddies Patrick DeHaan on CNBC. Americans feeling better about the economy heading into the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. The latest on consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan. Maybe the most important aspect of all, University of Michigan inflation gauge. The one year mid-month read was 3.5, now it's 3.3. That is huge.

Psychologically, it means a lot. CNBC's Rick Santelli. New in theaters, Sony's The Garfield Movie and Warner Brothers' Furiosa, a Mad Max saga. On the coming week's watch list, it'll be the final week of May trading. In economic data after the holiday, investors are on hold for a big report at the end of the week. The latest on inflation, the PCE, personal consumption expenditures for April. We get the latest on first quarter economic growth, too, with GDP, gross domestic product, plus new data on home prices, pending home sales,

and consumer confidence. Earnings reports after the holiday coming from more retailers like Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Kohl's, Burlington Foot Locker, Dollar General, Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle Outfitters, and Nordstrom. Plus, we also hear from Salesforce, HP, Advance Auto Parts, Capri Holdings, which is the parent of Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors, Red Robin, and Dell Technologies. I'm Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. The Investing Club. We're not about trading. We're about investing. Get invested. Join the club today. Go to cndc.com slash Jim's Club.