CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Lower, Fed Holds Rates Steady But Signals Future Increase, SpaceX Has Its First Down Day 6/17/26

Episode Date: June 17, 2026

CNBC Business News Update with Jessica Ettinger - market numbers and news featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business names. Visit https://www.cnbc.com/ for more. 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 Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. Wall Street opens Thursday morning after stocks tanked on Wednesday after the first Fed meeting chaired by Kevin Warsh. The Fed held rates unchanged but signaled a potential rate increase in the future. Bond yields rose on their own Wednesday and that pushed stocks down. The Dow hit an all-time high during the day but closed down 507 points 1% led lower by shares of Salesforce which were down more than 4%. The S&P 500 index down 91 points. That was 1 and a quarter percent. The NASDAQs down 354 points, 1.3%. Chip shares were mixed Wednesday, Intel up 3 percent, Broadcom up 4 percent. Invitya dropped 1 percent, Qualcomm down a half a percent. Company Sue shares hit fresh all-time highs Wednesday include Hilton, William Sonoma, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, applied materials in Caterpillar. The Fed with a switch from a bias toward cutting interest rates to no bias either way. A new Fed Chair Walsh announced an overhaul of major central bank operations, including how they look at inflation. What are the drivers of inflation? What's the Fed's responsibility for inflation? In part, how do we measure inflation? That's Chair Warsh. Now, the Trump administration tried to play down rising CPI consumer price index inflation by using another measure that had been criticized.

It was called Truflation. Double-lines Jeffrey Gunluck. Had a take on all of this on CNBC. It's very clear that the focus is on inflation and not on unemployment, the employment market having problems. He in fact said that the committee believes that the employment conditions are solid

and even that half the committee thought they might be getting better. That further distracts you, like a magician's trick, distracting you from what's going on in the trick by focusing your attention on the other hand. hand. Just before 10 a.m. Eastern Wednesday, SpaceX shares did something they'd never done before since their debut on Wall Street last Friday. They fell. We're going to continue to keep, oh my God.

Space is not allowed? Get someone on the phone. What's happening there? Let me get someone. Yeah, that can't be. That's the first time ever, by the way. CNBC's David Faber and Mad Money host Jim Kramer. SpaceX shares fell 5% Wednesday. President Trump said the U.S. will go right back to dropping bombs if he doesn't like the Iran deal. A formal signing of a memorandum of understanding is set for Friday. The president says it's not a final deal. It's a 60-day peace pause, but it does not address Iran's nuclear program, although it allows for future negotiations. Oil ticked higher on Wednesday after President Trump threatened to bomb Iran. America's strategic petroleum reserve meantime barrels of oil that are

tucked away for emergencies, including war, that's at a 40-year low. Now, the SPR is now at 340 million barrels, and it's now sitting at its lowest level since 1983. Going into this report, diesel inventories at a 29-year low. Gasoline was at an 11-year low. Now, exports lower than the peak we saw back in April, but still trending well above the about 10.5 million barrels per day that we exported last year. Refinery utilization is now at 96.7 percent. The refiners are running at full steam here. Clearly want to watch here now with the SPR at its lowest since the 1980s. CNBC's Pippa Stevens. On Thursday's watch list, we get earnings from Kroger. We find out how many people applied for unemployment benefits last week. The NBA champion

Nix get a parade in New York and U.S. Open Golf begins in Southampton, New York. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC.