CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Lower, Home Sales Up, Amazon Eyeing Used Car Business 3/20/25

Episode Date: March 20, 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 Friday morning after a down day for the major averages stocks lower. Investors worried about tariffs and a possible trade war. The Dow fell 11 points, led lower by shares of IBM, which were down 3.5%. The S&P 500 index down 12 points. The Nasdaq was down 59 points. Nvidia shares were in the green Thursday up eight-tenths of 1%. Companies who shares hit all-time highs include Berkshire Hathaway, Allstate and Olive Garden Parent, Darden Restaurants. One of Wall Street's bond market superstars had this to say about the US economy. I do think the chance of recession is higher than most

people believe. I actually think it's higher than 50% coming in you know in the next few quarters. They just downgraded GDP so we're getting closer to recession and we're that it's upgraded the inflation forecast. Double-lines Jeffrey Gundlach on CNBC. Existing home sales popped last month. Existing home sales in February rose 4.2% month to month. That's a beat. The street was looking for a 3% decline. Sales were still 1.2% lower than February of last year. Tight supply is pressuring prices. The median price of a home sold in February, $398,400. That's

up 3.8% year over year, and it is another record high price for the month of February. CNBC's Diana Olek. Tesla recalling almost all of the cyber trucks it sold because parts of outside panels on the vehicle could fall off, causing a road hazard for other drivers. Tesla shares have been down since the inauguration. The company's lost more than 40 percent of its value so far this year. CNBC's Megan Kucela reports that unprecedented stock pumping is coming out of the administration. Officials across the Trump administration have really been working to support the company. And the clearest example came late last night when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urged

viewers in a television interview to buy Tesla stock. He said, if you want to learn something on this show tonight, buy Tesla. Going on to say it was unbelievable how cheap the stock was and adding it will never be this cheap again. So really an extraordinary moment there of a cabinet official and one who spent decades on Wall Street recommending the stock of a company run by a fellow member of the administration. Amazon may soon start selling used cars according to automotive news. It would compete with Carvana whose shares were up on Thursday, not down.

And one expert says Carvana could eventually get bought. When you sell cars online a big benefit is centralizing the inventory and you know an easy example is you know someone who buys a convertible in LA will pay more than someone in Chicago. So if you can source the car in Chicago and sell it in LA there's natural arbitrage built in. So really we see Amazon potentially looking to acquire Carvana down the road if they want to get more meaningfully into the space. Citizens, Nick Jones on CNBC. On Friday's watch list, it's a quadruple witching day

on Wall Street, certain options and more will expire, creating some volatility for stocks. New in theaters, Shudder's horror film Ash, Avenue's horror film Locked, Warner Brothers crime drama The Alto Nights and Disney's live action version of Snow White. Jessica Edinger, CNBC. Weekdays at 5 a.m. Success starts early. Worldwide Exchange, 5 a.m. Eastern, CNBC.