CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Mixed, Beige Book Shows Lackluster Economy, United Airlines Out With Mixed Quarterly Results 10/15/25

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

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I'm Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. Wall Street opens Thursday morning. After a seesaw Wednesday for stocks, some investors cheering strong earnings reports from Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, while others have fears of rising trade war tension with China. The market closed, mixed. The Dow was down 17 points, led lower by shares of Honeywell, which were down almost 3%. The S&P 500 Index added 26 points. The NASDAQ added 148 points. That was a half percent. Shares of NVIDIA were down one-tenth of one percent. Companies who shares hit fresh all-time highs on Wednesday include T.J. Max and Marshall's parent T.J.X. Companies, Walmart, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and BlackRock. Caterpillar Martin Marietta. The Russell 2000 hit a fresh record high Wednesday, but was it a quality record high? Here's CNBC's Mike Santoli. A lot of excitement about this acceleration higher in the Russell 2000. It is a pretty distinct breakout, really of a multi-year range. I would just point out what's driving it.

And it's not, to me, a big macro story about the broader economy, gaining pace, the Fed cutting rates. Obviously, that's part of the situation in general. But it's also just this low-quality speculative beta chase. It's all of these kind of alt-energy names, the crypto-related, the drone stocks, the quantum computing names. Gold hit another record high on Wednesday. As investors look to put some money in what's considered a safe haven, United Airlines out with quarterly results after the closing bell on Wednesday earnings better than expected revenue missed estimates. But its outlook is pretty strong. Premium and loyalty have been a big part of the success. Not only at United but also at

Delta, everybody knows that's where the money is right now for the domestic airlines. Look, United had a strong summer relative to spring. They do not want to go back to what they saw in the CNBC's Phil Lebo. No September inflation report yet. The Bureau of Labor Statistics brought back workers during the shutdown to get it ready for a release a week from Friday nine days late. That's well ahead of the following week's Fed meeting on interest rates. inflation has been going in the wrong direction all year. The Fed's target is 2%. Headline inflation sitting at 2.9% from August. The Fed's beige book shows tariffs are pushing prices higher. Consumers are taking the hit. The beige book is a summary of current economic conditions. The beige book telling a story of a lackluster economy suffering from uncertainty, low hiring, and inflation. Consumers spending inch down when it came to retail. But leisure and hospitality saw declines because of reluctance of international travelers come to the U.S.

CNBC's Steve Leesman. Meantime consumers expect higher prices on holiday items in a new Deloitte survey. And they also say they're going to spend 10% less this year. on holiday items compared to last year. What people say they're going to do and what they actually do is very different. And our price is going to be up absolutely. And not only will prices be up, but the items that we tend to focus on during the holiday season, like toys, will see a disproportionate amount of pricing.

UBS is Michael Lesser on CNBC. On Thursday's watch list, we get earnings from Travelers, Charles Schwab and U.S. Bank Corp. Jessica Erringer, CNBC. Breaking earnings news this week on CNBC and streaming on CNBC Plus.