CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Lower, Inflation Warning Puts Rate Hikes in Focus • 8/28/26

Episode Date: August 28, 2026

CNBC Business News Update with Jessica Ettinger - Market & Business News with expert analysis from top names in money. Visit 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.

CNBC Business News Update. It was a losing Friday for the major averages, but for the week, they held on to some modest gains. I'm Jessica Eddinger. On Friday, the Dow down nine points. Invidia shares let it lower. They were down 4.5%. The S&P 500 index down 19 points Friday.

The NASDAQ down 138 points. That was a half percent. Most of the chipmakers in the red. Wall Street seems to feel interest rate hikes are more possible. After Fed chair, Kevin Warsh's sharp inflation warning at Jackson Hole. This first inaugural speech in Jackson Hole from Kevin Warsh, more detailed and hawkish than expected by markets and participants here. Warsh said inflation is too high. There are a few signs the Fed is too restrictive. And he's not really confident that inflation

is necessarily moving back to the Fed's 2% target. Responsibility for 65 months of sustained elevated inflation sits squarely with the central bank. and that's where it belongs. He stopped well short of firmly predicting rate hikes and stuck to his announced plans not to offer guidance about where the Fed is headed. He didn't say he's going to hike rates or even sort of indicate that. But it's not hard to go from the things he said and the analysis he provided to thinking, well, the right response to that is to move interest rates.

That's CNBC Senior Economics reporter Steve Leesman. Month seven of the U.S. war with Iran began on Friday. The price of oil is up more than 20 percent. since the start of the war and Americans are paying, on average, more than $4 for a gallon of regular at the pump, according to AAA. On February 27th, before the U.S. launched the missiles, prices at the pump had a two handle at $298 a gallon. Would-be home buyers saw mortgage rates pop on Friday inching towards 7% for a 30-year fixed-rate home loan. Mortgage News Daily says the national average hit 6.81%. Apple is raising prices. CEO Tim Cook is leaving. New CEO John Turneris takes over. Tim Cook is making a lot of the difficult,

unpopular decisions on his way out. They got many raised prices on Apple TV and Apple One in the U.S. After already pushing through increases, averaging 20% on Macs and iPads, it's also cut jobs across parts of its AI and software teams out here in Silicon Valley. CNBC's McKenzie Seagalos. Inflation-weary Americans are lamenting the high price of beef. CNBC.B.C. these Pippa Stevens. The U.S. cattle herd is at its lowest level in more than 70 years, which is why we're seeing beef prices up 9% in the last year and a pound of ground beef now approaching $7. President Trump announcing that cattle ranchers will be able to process their own product rather than sending cattle to America's mostly foreign-owned processing plants.

But few ranchers are likely to do that. The president also announced a 90-day reduction in tariffs on imported beef. with a load coming into the U.S. to try to ease prices. CNBC anchors, Carl Kintanilla, Jim Kramer, and David Faber had something to say about that. Beef. So trying to find where that 300,000 tons is coming from. No one knows. I'm not kidding. No, and Brooke Rollins will not answer the question of who our partner is on this deal.

Very strange, right? I don't like that. No one seems to know. I know. Well, I don't want to eat. I don't either. The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governor's meeting is on in North Carolina Monday special coverage on CNBC. Also on the coming week's watch list earnings from Broadcom Dell and Palo Alto networks. And then on Friday we get the big August jobs report from the Labor Department heading into the Labor Day holiday weekend. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC.