CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Mixed, Russell 2000 Record High, Tech Sector Lower, Stocks React To New Dietary Guidelines 1/8/26

Episode Date: January 8, 2026

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 and reported by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger. 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 Eddinger, CNBC. Wall Street opens Friday morning after a mixed day for stocks Thursday and a record high for one index, the Russell 2000. That's an index of smaller publicly traded companies. The biggie, the Dow, was up 270 points, a half percent. Nike shares led it higher up three percent. The S&P 500 index barely in the green, a half a point. The NASDAQ in the red on Thursday down 104 points. And Vitya shares on Thursday down more than 2%. Guess what didn't lead the markets on Thursday? Tech.

Every single sector positive except tech today. We've only had 10 other days since 1990 where every other sector was positive and tech was down. There's no news. There's no earnings. The only thing driving this is people looking at their portfolio and saying, wow, you know what? There really are other games in town.

Financials, industrials. there are other things I could be doing. That's Riddholz. Well, it's Josh Brown on CNBC. Now, companies who shares at fresh all-time highs Thursday include one tech name, Google Parent Alphabet, but others include Hilton and Marriott, Ross Dress for Less, T.J. Max and Marshall's parent, T.J.X companies, Eli Lilly, the maker of Zeppbound, the weight loss drug. Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and L3 Harris. And those last few are defense names. That industry jumped on presidential. Trump's call for a major increase in the Pentagon's budget for next year. Defense stocks today jumping on the president's call for a $1.5 trillion military budget, and that would mark a 50% increase from this year's Pentagon budget.

It would be almost 5% of GDP, which we really haven't done since the early 90s. CNBC's Carl Kintanilla. Here's the American Enterprise Institute's James Pethakoukis on CNBC. On increasing the Pentagon's budget by 50 percent, is that fiscally sustainable, given the U.S. is at a very high level of debt right now. I mean, the tariffs aren't going to pay for this. The tariffs are been paying for things about five times over. Oh, and by the way, the Supreme Court might be about to throw out those tariffs or a good chunk of them. So, like, where that money is going to come from is kind of a sketchy at this point?

And is this like a good idea? The New York Fed survey found Americans are really worried about the. job market. CNBC's Carl Kintanilla again. Labor market outlook weakening with the probability of finding a job reaching an all-time low. Labor market indicators employment expectations moving slightly lower, but the concerns over losing one's job higher by nearly one and a half percentage points. Confidence in finding a new job dropped to the lowest since the survey began back in 2013. Companies whose shares hit 52-week lows on Thursday. After the New Health and Human Services, American dietary guidelines advise Americans to stay away from processed foods.

ConAgra brands, which makes slim gyms. Camble Soup makes goldfish crackers and Mondalese, which makes Oreos. All were lower on Thursday. Friday is a payday for many Americans. Many are taking a little bit more home with the new IRS tax bracket changes that came with the new year. Also on Friday's watch list, it is a jobs Friday. We get the December. employment report coming from the Labor Department. Also Friday, President Trump's scheduled to meet with oil executives about Venezuela. We get a new read on how consumers are feeling and consumer sentiment data. College football Friday night, the Peach Bowl, Oregon, and Indiana in Atlanta. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. Do you want to be on CNBC's Disruptor 50 list? Is your startup shattering boundaries, shaking up industries? Go to CNBC.com slash disruptors to apply before February 20.

23rd.