CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Plunge, Dow Down 950 Points, Trump Attacks Fed Chair To Lower Interest Rates 4/21/25

Episode Date: April 21, 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 Edinger, CNBC. Wall Street opens Tuesday morning after an ugly sell-off Monday, which picked up steam after President Trump attacked Fed Chair Jay Powell again. The Dow plunging 971 points, 2.5% led lower by shares of UnitedHealth, which were down 6.3%. The S&P 500 index down 124 points, that was 2.3%. And the NASDAQ down 415 points, 2.5%. Nvidia shares were down 4.5% on Monday. We have seen one of the biggest sell-offs of the past decade in the stock market, these tariffs and how the U.S. is going to navigate

this trade war. That is the number one biggest uncertainty that companies, business leaders, investors are facing right now. And the bad news is that a lot of traders are not expecting that to calm down anytime soon. The Wall Street Journal's Gunjan Banerjee on CNBC. The dollar fell to its weakest in three years. Gold hit another record high Monday, crossing above the January 1980 inflation adjusted record. President Trump attacking Fed Chair Jay Powell again demanding that the Fed lower interest rates. Some investors say he's bullying the Fed. Somebody needs to turn to the camera and tell the president to stop. I mean he is messing with the foundation of this country. He's messing with the foundation of the country. He's messing with the foundation of the economy.

He's messing with America's place in the global financial system. CNBC senior economics reporter, Steve Leesman, meantime executives from retailers, Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, were meeting with President Trump Monday afternoon to talk about trade and perhaps to plead their case for him to stop all the tariffs. The index of leading economic indicators looks bad with its biggest drop in more than a year

and a half. Leading economic indicators for the month of March are leading into the red. Mine is seven tenths of a percent. That's a bigger negative than we were expecting and four months have been negative in a row. CNBC's Rick Santelli, the leading economic index from the conference board, provides an early indication of significant turning points in the business cycle and where the economy is heading in the near term.

Automakers start reporting quarterly results on Tuesday. The Q1 results, that's a little bit of what people will be watching, but more importantly, it's the commentary about the second quarter and the remainder of this year, what's going to happen with tariffs. Was there a sales boost in March because so many dealers said, yes, we'll take as many as we can get before the tariffs kick in? Also, what are the plans for managing tariff impacts? No comments yet from any automakers about adding actual production plants. Meanwhile, when you look at Tesla, will Elon Musk during the conference call

signal that there is an end date for his work with the Trump administration? CNBC's Phil LaBeau. Tesla has lost almost half its value since the start of the year. It reports after the closing bell. Walgreens paying 300 million dollars to settle allegations. It illegally filed millions of invalid prescriptions for opioids in a settlement with the Department of Justice. On Tuesday's watch list earnings are coming from Tesla, 3M,

GE Aerospace, Verizon and Kimberly Clark to name a few. Local pharmacies and compounders must halt compounding and distribution of semaglutide, an ingredient in weight loss drugs. Jessica Edinger, CNBC.