CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Major Averages Hit Fresh Records, Investors Have High Hopes For Trump-Xi Meeting, GM Firing 1,700 People 10/29/25

Episode Date: October 29, 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. 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 in the green this afternoon, or record-setting day for the major averages. Ahead of President Trump's high-stakes meeting tomorrow with China's President Xi. The major averages, all building on record highs, but they closed with yesterday. The Dow's up 253 points, more than a half percent. The S&P 500 index up 17 points. The NASDAQ up 131 points, more than a half percent. The major averages the Dow, the S&P 500 index, and the NASDAQ, hit fresh all-time highs today. Along with record highs, companies seem to keep announcing job cuts.

Over the past few weeks, it's been adding up into the hundreds of thousands. Amazon, UPS, Facebook, Target, add 1,700 people today at General Motors, 350 at CarMax. One investor says there could be a tipping point when people lose a job. They stop spending, and that's not good for American business. businesses and their stock. If you commit to AI as a company and you show some increased productivity from it, you're going to get a halo effect from AI. So that's very positive right now. The question is when does it turn negative because you're displacing buyers of consumer goods, meaning white collar, as we saw with Amazon, 14,000 of them. When does the tradeoff happen? Well, productivity of

those companies and increased earnings offset massive. but I do believe massive unemployment. Short Hills Capitals, Steve Weiss on CNBC. The Fed expected to announce an interest rate cut this afternoon of at least a quarter percentage point. You would pay slightly less in interest on credit card balances you're carrying in other adjustable debt you may have. NVIDIA became the first $5 trillion company ever Wednesday. It is a stunning number. If you think about the growth that NVIDIA has seen this year, close to 50% growth on the back of this continuing.

exploding AI infrastructure buildout. The U.S. allowing NVIDIA to start selling that Blackwell chip into China where there would be insatiable demand for it. And so the president even winking about it, you know, it makes sense to me after that happened, that we're seeing Nvidia now exceed that $5 trillion, wild to say it, $5 trillion market cap. Big Technologies, Alex Cantrowitz on CNBC. Companies reporting quarterly results after the closing bell today include Google Parent Alphabet, Facebook, meta and Microsoft. They literally have so much AI demand.

They cannot meet it. They're actually turning away customers. Now, CFO, Amy Hood, originally predicted they'd catch up to that demand this year. That's now being pushed into 2026. That's CNBC's Steve Kovac. More people applied for mortgages last week as interest rates hit their lowest since the summer of 24. Mortgage rates dropping to their lowest level in more than a year. The average rate on a 30-year fixed fell to 6.3%, that's from 6.37% that drove refinancing applications higher by 9% from the prior week.

Applications for new mortgages rose 5% from the prior week and were 20% higher year over year. CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin. The average rate on a 30-year fixed home loan today is 6.1% according to mortgage news daily. The mega millions jackpot more than three quarters of a billion dollars now at 754 million for Friday night. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. This December, CNBC opens its doors for an exclusive in-person experience at the iconic NASDAQ market site in New York City. Fast Money Live, trading the holidays. December 11th.

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