CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Higher, Bond Yields Lower, Existing Home Sales Popped In February 3/20/25

Episode Date: March 20, 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 Ettinger, CNBC. Wall Street flipping from red to green on the screen this afternoon. It's the first day of spring trading. Bond yields are lower, pushing stocks higher. Investors also got some solid housing data today. The Dow up 143 points, three-tenths of a percent, led higher by shares of Sherwin-Williams. They're up 1.5%. The S&P 500 index up nine points. The Nasdaq's up 31 points. Nvidia shares up 1.5% this afternoon. Companies who shares hit fresh all-time highs today include McKesson and Lowe's.

And it's all about existing home sales, which popped last month. Existing home sales in February rose 4.2% month to month. That's a beat. The street was looking for a 3% decline. Sales were still 1.2% lower than February of last year. Tight supply is pressuring prices.

The median price of a home sold in February, $398,400. That's up 3.8% year over year. And it is another record high price for the month of February. CNBC's Diana Olek. President Trump calling for the Fed to lower interest rates to counter any inflation or other damage to the economy that tariffs could cause. The tariff war is still on.

Uncertainty continues to prevail. All the sentiment indicators coming out for consumers and businesses remain very iffy, very dark. I think if the tariff goes in, as the president has articulated them, reciprocal tariffs broad-based in early April and they stay there, it will do a lot of damage to the economy and the stock market. If the president doesn't do that, the tariffs kind of fade away. I'm not sure how that would happen, but if they were to fade away, I think the damage

would lessen and the economy would be just fine. Moody's economist Mark Zandi on CNBC. For the year so far, the Dow down 1%, the S&P 500 index down 3%, the Nasdaq's down 8%. Where's the smart money been, as the U.S. markets have pulled back in the first quarter? In Europe. European markets they are on a roll continuing to outperform the US so far this year. Check this out the core MSCI Europe ETF the tickers IEUR it's up more than four and a half percent just this month. Other funds that trap Europe are seeing similar or even greater gains including the iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF, the ticker EZU, which is

up 7% in March, hitting a new high. CNBC's Frank Holland. Five below shares are popping. On strong quarterly results, the discount retailers often a choice for budget-conscious consumers. There is one bright spot in the market so far today, and it's not where you might think. This is five below. The discount retailer posted quarterly results that actually

beat analysts expectations. They also issued strong current quarter revenue guidance. The company warned though that tariffs could hurt margins but CEO Winnie Park did say she thinks there's opportunity to diversify where five below sources its product. CNBC's Dominic Chu. Covergirl, Max Factor and Kylie Cosmetics parent Cody, its shares are higher on an analyst upgrade after it got rid of its stake in haircare brand Wella. Wella is the parent of Clairol hair color and OPI nail color.

Major League Baseball has its traditional opening day today. The NCAA March Madness Men's First Round Games are on and Dairy Queen handing out free small soft serve vanilla cones today for the first day of spring. Jessica Edinger CNBC.