CNBC Business News Update - Market Close: Stocks Sell Off, Dow Drops 748 Points, Report On New China Virus May Have Sparked Some Selling 2/21/25

Episode Date: February 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 Monday morning after a losing Friday for stocks and a losing week. The week, investors say, momentum cracked. The Dow plunged 748 points, more than 1.5% led lower by shares of UnitedHealth, down almost, down more than 7%. The S&P 500 index was down 104 points, one and three quarters percent. The NASDAQ tanked 438 points. That was more than 2%. NVIDIA shares were down 4% on Friday. Investors are worried about cracks in the U.S. economy. The consumer accounts for about two thirds of U.S. economic growth. And with inflation up four months in a row and Walmart out with a profit warning and possibly a pullback in consumer spending, investors are cautious.

But there might also have been something else behind Friday's selling, a report that China has found a new novel coronavirus. Vaccine stocks shot up on the news. Travel stocks pulled back. Not too concerned based on this single report. They sample viruses from bats constantly over there, and they find novel viruses from time to time. And sometimes these novel viruses that they stumble upon harbor very concerning features. Probably the most concerning part of this story is that they did this experimentation

in a low-security BSL-2 lab, and this was the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This is the same institute in Wuhan that has been implicated in a potential lab leak related to SARS-CoV-2 lab. And this was the Wuhan Institute of Virology. This is the same institute in Wuhan that has been implicated in potential lab leak related to SARS-CoV-2. So to see them still experimenting with novel viruses in a BSL-2 lab, that's not too reassuring. But from this particular strain that they found, I don't have any concerns that this is going to cause an imminent risk, unless they have a laboratory accident. And one would hope that since they published these findings, they're now taking precautions to treat this strain with greater caution. Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb on CNBC. Home sales dropped sharply and prices hit an all-time high in January. The median price of a home sold in January was $396,900, up 4.8% year over year.

That is the highest price ever for January. Existing home sales in January fell 4.9% month to month. That is a much steeper decline than the street was expecting. CNBC's Diana Olick. A glimmer of good news for would-be homebuyers. Heading into open houses this weekend, the average rate on a 30-year mortgage slipped below 7% to 6.89%. And of course, your rate depends on your credit score and down payment, but the rate is according to Mortgage News Daily.

Dow component UnitedHealth shares tanked on a Wall Street Journal report that says the Department of Justice is investigating its Medicare billing practices. United is a different animal because they have a provider or a doctor business as well as an insurance business. Most of the other companies do not. So the allegations here basically pertain to that doctor network overcharging patients and that's enabling the company to go out there and get more government money. That's Mizzou host Jared Schultz on CNBC. Hims and hers shares cratered on the official word from the FDA that the Ozempic and Wagovi shortage is over. The FDA updated its drug

shortages database and only a shortage legally allowed companies to step in and compound the blockbuster weight loss drugs made by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. The big drug makers are suing to stop those smaller compounders from selling non-FDA approved weight loss copies, which are being advertised all over social media. On Monday's watch list, final week of February trading. Earnings are coming from Domino's Pizza, Hims and Hers, Public Storage and Zoom Video. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. The CNBC Changemakers returns. 50 women innovating and driving change across industries. Meet the new icons. The CNBC Changemakers. Revealed Monday in Squawk Box.