CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Mixed, Investors Hope For Rate Cut Talk By Fed Chair, New Car Prices Going Up 8/18/25

Episode Date: August 18, 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 Eddinger, CNBC. Wall Street opens Tuesday morning after a mixed and lackluster day for stocks on Monday. The Dow was down 34 points, led lower by shares of Sherwin Williams, down one and a half percent. B.S&P 500 index was down a half point. The NASDAQ was in the green, up six points. InVIDIA shares up eight-tenths of one percent on Monday. Companies who shares hit fresh record highs Monday include ticket, Master Parent Live Nation, Seagate, and Reddit. Jackson Hole is in focus this week. The Fed Chair will speak on Friday. And investors are hoping Jay Powell will hear him say something about cutting interest rates. The markets are pricing in about a 75% chance of an interest rate cut at the September meeting. One economist says a recession is absolutely possible. And it'll be the labor market that takes the economy down.

I think recession risks are really high. The key here is jobs, and of course, you know, with the recent data, we see job growth has come to a virtual standstill. And I don't see any reason why we'll see any pickup here anytime soon. So, you know, if we start getting some negative job numbers, which I think are really very possible, that would be a clear indication of recession. Moody's analytics economist Mark Zandi on CNBC. The insurance industry on alert as Hurricane Aaron is forecast to create dangerous surf, winds, and flooding. Along the eastern seaboard, including North Carolina's outer banks and parts of Delaware, it is not forecast to make U.S. landfall.

Tariffs are hitting new car buyers as pre-tariff cars disappear from dealer lots. The MSRP suggested retail price. That's up 2.4% year over year, according to Kelly Blue Book. But what we actually pay is up just 1.5%. Creeping higher, the average incentive is now about 7% of the average transaction price. just over $3,500. And the expectation, again, is that we will see these prices continue to edge a little bit higher.

Automakers are eating a lot of the tariff costs, but they're not eating all of it. And the expectation is that we will see them start to pass along a little bit more of this to the consumer. CNBC's Phil LeBoe, Home Builders are feeling worse about the single-family new home sales business. They cut prices and offered more incentives to sell new construction homes in this past month. The builders pointed to elevated mortgage rates, weak buyer traffic, and ongoing supply-side challenges. Mortgage rates, though, actually came down nearly a quarter point from the end of July to the first few weeks of August, but that clearly didn't help much.

Now, 37% of builders reported cutting prices in August. That's down from 38% in July, but it's been at 37 or 38 for the past three months. The average price reduction, 5%. It's the same. It's been every month since last November. The use of sales incentives was 66% in August. from 62% in July, and that is the highest percentage in the post-COVID period. So again, the builders relying on those incentives. CNBC's Diana Oleg. Universal, releasing the Breakfast

Club movie into theaters to mark its 40th anniversary, two nights Sunday, September 7th, and Wednesday, September 10th. Advanced tickets are on sale. Universal's a sister company to CNBC. On Tuesday's watch list, earnings are coming from Home Depot, MedT, and Home Builder Toll Brothers. We get new numbers on housing starts and building permits. It's the 20th anniversary of Google's initial public offering. KFC will bring back potato wedges after five years. Also Tuesday, U.S. Open Tennis begins in New York.

Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. CNBC is the network for ambitious people.