CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Higher, Job Openings Drop In December, Shamrock Shakes Back At McDonald's On Monday 2/4/25

Episode Date: February 4, 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. China announced retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made goods, but investors are shaking off the trade war and instead sending markets higher. The Dow now up 83 points this afternoon, led higher by shares of Chevron, which are up 2.5%. The S&P 500 index up 38 points, a half percent. The Nasdaq soaring up 230 points, more than 1%.

NVIDIA shares in the green up almost 2% this afternoon. Companies who shares hit fresh all-time highs today include Amazon, Walmart, IBM, Google Parent Alphabet, and it reports quarterly results after the closing bell today. One election, and things have changed for investors. We had last year, we had a very strong year. We had 57 record highs. So in those kinds of environments, you're setting yourself up where there's not a lot of margin for error. Hence, you saw the market sell off quickly in a hair-trigger fashion last Monday with DeepSeek, and you saw it this Monday with the tariff news.

So you have to take that stuff into account where certain events which may have been reacted to in one way a year ago are going to be reacted to differently now. Paul Hickey on CNBC. Job openings dropped sharply in December in the new Joltz report on job opportunity and labor turnover. Expecting eight million-ish, seven million six hundred thousand. That is the smallest month-over-month job openings. Well, going all the way back to Sep of last year. CNBC's Rick Santelli. We get the government's big jobs report this Friday morning. That'll be for January. Beauty company Estee Lauder struggling. Its brands include Mac, Aveda, Smashbox, Bobby Brown, Clinique. Estee Lauder out with a disappointing

forecast, cutting up to 7,000 jobs. Estee Lauder down 13 percent. CNBC's Sarah Eisen. Palantir shares surging to a record high today after quarterly results that knocked it out of the park. Shares of prison operators Geo Group and Core Civic, they're lower this afternoon after the country of El Salvador offered to jail U.S. criminals and undocumented migrants. Both stocks surged since President Trump won the election and are now pulling back. McDonald's says Shamrock Shakes will be back in restaurants on Monday, exactly four weeks before St. Patrick's Day Shamrock Shakes will be back in restaurants on Monday, exactly four weeks before St. Patrick's Day, which is Monday, March 10th this year. Waffle House with a 50-cent per egg surcharge on items on its menu as egg prices soar.

CNN says Waffle House is America's largest breakfast chain. It's got 2,000 locations in 25 states and 40,000 workers. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC.