CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Mixed, Netflix Out With Strong Results, United Health Down 22% On Lowered Outlook, Easter Chocolate Prices Sky High 4/17/25

Episode Date: April 17, 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 Evinger, CNBC. Wall Street opens Monday morning after the Good Friday Market holiday and wild swings for stocks this past week. On Thursday, markets were mixed. The Dow down 527 points, more than 1 percent, dragged lower by shares of UnitedHealth, which fell 22 percent. The S&P 500 index eeked out a gain on Thursday of 7 points. The NASDAQ down 20. NVIDIA finished the week down 3% as CEO Jensen Wong heads to China to try to shore up business

there. The major averages are all in the red for the year. If you have a retirement account with an S&P 500 index fund in it, like many Americans, you're down 10%. The Dow is down 8%. The NASDAQ is down 15% this year. As we mentioned, the big drag on the Dow Thursday was UnitedHealth. It lowered its full year outlook. And one expert tells CNBC the health insurer is making less money because it may have stopped trying to keep patients from getting to their doctors and procedures after its CEO was gunned down on a New York City street. United and maybe the industry pulling back on prior authorizations on kind of the intensity

of some of the activity they do to manage utilization, which obviously causes a bunch of consumer dissatisfaction. Bernstein's Lance Wilkes on CNBC. It's Trump versus Powell again, as President Trump again calls for the Fed to cut interest rates, posting that Fed Chair Jay Powell's termination cannot come fast enough.

On Wednesday, Powell said the Fed will have to wait and see whether it can lower interest rates now that the president's tariffs are set to boost US inflation. Powell's term ends in May of next year anyway. CNBC hal-time reports Josh Brown had this to say.

I'm going to tell you right now, he doesn't have to get rid of Powell. It's unnecessary. Kevin Warsh is the Fed chair in waiting. Everybody knows this. He was almost the Fed chair in 2017. Just so people understand, Kevin Warsh was on the Fed from 2006 to 2011. He's married to Jane Lauder. Jane Lauder is Ron Lauder's daughter, a Vesta Lauder. That's Donald Trump's best friend. What he wants in this role is a loyalist who will do exactly what he thinks needs to be done.

Red Holtz-Welts, Josh Brown on CNBC. Retailers would love you in stores to shop for Easter, some offering deals to lure you in. Target says it's selling Easter meal staples at last year's prices. Of course, retailers by Monday will have everything discounted. The price of chocolate sky high this year

because of a global chocolate shortage, and that's because of climate change in cocoa producing regions. And to save money, families have been skipping, coloring Easter eggs and instead they're dying marshmallows. Hollywood wants you at theaters over the Easter weekend. Warner Brothers has high hopes for a third big weekend for the Minecraft movie and for its brand new horror film Sinners. Also out is Bleecker

Street's The Wedding Banquet and its animated family film Sneaks. On the coming week's watch list we get earnings from Tesla and Google Parent Alphabet. We also get existing home sales numbers and Thursday night will be the NFL draft in Green Bay. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. Introducing CNBC Plus, the new streaming platform from the number one source in business news. Watch live or on demand.

Access any market, anytime, anywhere. Start streaming. Go to cnbc.com slash plus now.