CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Higher, Apple Announces Record Stock Buyback As iPhone Sales Drop, Investors Brace for April Jobs Report 5/2/24

Episode Date: May 2, 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 Friday morning after a winning day for stocks. Investors happy. The Fed isn't planning any interest rate increases. Bond yields came down. Stocks went up. The Dow rose 322 points. That was eight-tenths of a percent.

It's above 38,000. The S&P 500 index up 45 points, nine-tenths of a percent. The Nasdaq was up 235 points. That was one and a half percent. Major averages still lower for the week, though. Companies whose shares hit fresh all-time highs Thursday include Allstate, Howmatt Aerospace, Goldman Sachs, and Colgate-Palmolive. I think the market taking its lead from bonds,

which managed to relax after the fed yesterday we do have to get through the jobs report it feels like there's still some hesitation ahead of that 50 50 on the s&p we're sitting there again we first got there in february i keep talking about it it's sort of a ready position for the next significant move cnbc's mike santoli apple reported slightly better than expected quarterly results after the closing bell. It's making a massive stock buyback, the largest of any company ever at $110 billion. Shares ticked higher in after hours trading, but iPhone sales in the quarter dropped. And some investors just want Apple to make a real improvement to the phone to get it selling again.

It's the iPhone. I need a fifth lens like I need a third nipple. What I really want to see, honestly, is a reason to get the next iPhone. And it's going to be AI. iPhones have the revenue. What's going to be the thing that makes people say, I need another iPhone? That's the thing that can get the stock out of the range. Ritholtz welts Josh Brown on CNBC. Investors are on hold now for the April jobs report. It comes Friday morning, 8.30 Eastern.

Investors will look at wage data. The more businesses pay their workers, the more people spend. And that props up inflation, and that can keep the Fed from cutting interest rates. Rivian shares jumped Thursday. Millions of dollars coming from Illinois to expand the plant in Normal, where Rivian makes the electric delivery vans it sells to Amazon. Ford's April sales fell compared with April of last year. People are buying fewer ICE or internal combustion engine vehicles,

but they're switching to something else. ICE vehicles down 9.2%. Where are people shifting? Well, they're clearly shifting towards green vehicles, if you will. EV sales in April more than doubled compared to April of last year, up 129%. Hybrid sales up 59%. Look at the F-150 hybrid, the Maverick hybrid, best months ever. Hybrids and EVs now make up 14% of Ford's monthly sales. A year ago, guys, it was 8%. CNBC's Phil LeBeau.

On Friday's watch list, the big April employment report could move the markets. Earnings are coming from Fubo TV and Hershey. New in theaters, Screen Gems horror film Tarot. And Universal's The Fall Guy. Universal is a sister company to CNBC. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC.