CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Higher, Retail Sales Ticked Up In February, Homebuilder Optimism Falls 3/17/25

Episode Date: March 17, 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 Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Edinger CNBC Wall Street opens Tuesday morning after a day in the green for stocks on Monday even with disappointing retail sales numbers for last month. The Dow extending last Friday's rally up 353 points, 8 tenths of a percent led higher by shares of Nike, which were up almost 3%. The S&P 500 index was up 36 points. That was a half percent. The Nasdaq up 54 points. Shares of Nvidia in the red, down almost 2%.

And Tesla on Monday tanked almost 5%. The economic data today, disappointed. Unequivocally, it was disappointing. And yet the markets are higher. That's a good sign that maybe animal spirits are coming back to the bullish side of things Serity partners Jim Laban thal on CNBC retail sales ticked higher in February but the market wanted a real big rebound from sales that tanked in January and It wasn't there. Let's start off with the most important piece, which is gas station sales down 1%

discretionary items like sporting goods and hobbies down 4 tenths, department stores down 1.7, clothing down 6 tenths. Those do not speak to being very robust in terms of the consumer. CNBC senior economics reporter Steve Leesman. Home builders are less optimistic about their business and the new National Association of Home Builders survey, it's at a seven-month low. The builders cite economic uncertainty, the threat of tariffs, and elevated construction costs. Builders in the survey estimated that the typical cost effect from

recent tariffs actions was $9,200 in addition per home. CNBC's Diana Olek. The average rate on a 30 year fixed home loan is 6.8% according to mortgage News Daily Gold is holding around the record $3000 announced level it hit last Friday. People trying to figure out how to sell gold jewelry and other items around the house ETF buyers have now come into the space and that

has been driven by many of these macro factors for geopolitical risks risks uncertainty around tariffs what that might mean for inflation and global growth and all of these factors have come together to really boost gold and hit that 3,000 level. Standard Charters Suki Cooper on CNBC. Harvard announcing free undergraduate tuition for students and families making under $200,000 a year. It begins this fall. On Tuesday's watch list we get the latest on housing prices. We also get the latest on how CEOs are feeling about the economy. We get new industrial production numbers. The Fed starts a two-day meeting

on interest rates. The NCAA March Madness first four men's games begin in Dayton, Ohio. The MLB World Tour games begin in Dayton, Ohio. The MLB World Tour games begin with the LA Dodgers playing the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo. And U.S. astronauts Butch and Sonny returned to Earth after a 10-day mission to the ISS turned into more than nine months stuck on the International Space Station. Jessica Erringer, CNBC. Tonight, Kramer Talks Tech on the road. From San Francisco, Space Station. Jessica Erringer CNBC.