CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Mixed, Disappointing Results from Meta And Several "Magnificent Seven" Companies, Fed Held Interest Rates Steady 4/29/26

Episode Date: April 29, 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 Evinger, CNBC. Wall Street opens Thursday morning after a mixed day for the major averages Wednesday. The Dow is on a five-day slide. The Fed held interest rates steady, oil soared, and gas prices hit a fresh four-year high. The Dow fell 280 points, half a percent. It was led lower by shares of Boeing, which were down almost 3%. The S&P 500 Index was down two points. The NASDAQ up nine points.

shares of InVIDIA were lower by almost 2%. What's been fascinating is this market kind of remains on somewhat neutral footing, but maybe uneasily so. The S&P 500 is basically flat since a week ago Friday. That's CNBC's Mike Santoli. In the Super Bowl of Earnings reports out Wednesday after the closing bell, four of the so-called magnificent seven stocks released results. Only Google Parent Alphabet shares were higher initially in after-hours trading on better than expected numbers, some disappointment for investors in parts of reports from Microsoft, Facebook, and Instagram parent meta, and Amazon. Morgan Stanley's Brian Noak had this to say on CNBC about

Amazon pre-earnings report. It is the most underappreciated generative AI winning business. Their algorithms about how to determine what items to show you at what moment are getting better. They're advertising business is seeing a lot of the similar benefits that. that Google search or meta are seeing, the way in which they are rolling out robotics across their warehouse footprint is only going to make them more efficient overtime. Fed Chairman Jay Powell held his final news conference as chairman on Wednesday, the FOMC decided to hold interest rates steady. Powell's presumed successor, President Trump's pick Kevin Warsh had his nomination moved to the full Senate for final confirmation. Warsh earlier told the Senate Banking Committee

he will not be a Fed chair that's in the job just to do whatever President Trump wants, like lower interest rates. Chair Powell meantime announced that although his term as chair ends next month, he has two years left on the board and he will not retire yet. And double lines Jeffrey Gunlock told CNBC while President Trump wants lower interest rates, that may not happen anytime soon. He said if you blinked, you missed it, but he basically said if the tariff effect doesn't fade in the next quarter or two, and if oil prices, you know, remain challenging, we won't even think of reducing interest rates. Oil prices popped again Wednesday. U.S. crude hitting $108 a barrel, the Strait of Hormuz, remains closed. Airlines, especially in Europe, are facing a bidding war for available jet fuel supplies. Prices at the pump at a fresh four-year high from Tuesday.

AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular went up nearly six. six cents two days in a row. Now at $4.23 per gallon the day before the U.S. sent missiles into Iran, a gallon of gas had a two-handle, $2.98. Gas was the one bright spot on prices. Now, the gas price increase of over a dollar at the pump, that is now really weighing on consumer sentiment. That's former National Economic Council Director Lael Brainerd on CNBC. On Thursday's watch list, earnings are coming from Apple. We get a read on U.S. economic growth with GDP numbers, gross domestic product. Inside that report will be a new read on inflation, the PCE numbers, personal consumption expenditures.

Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. A new era in Omaha begins. Newly mented CEO Greg Abel takes the helm at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. Watch live Saturday starting 9.15 a.m. Eastern. Only on CNBC.com.