CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Higher, S&P 500 Index Intraday High, Helene Could Cause Billions In Damage 9/26/24

Episode Date: September 26, 2024

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, rallying this afternoon. The Dow up 267 points, a half percent, led by shares of Caterpillar, which are up more than 3% now. The S&P 500 index hit a new intraday all-time high. It is up 16 points now. And the Nasdaq up 73 points, off off its earlier highs but still up almost a half percent now. Micron Technologies CEO optimistic on chip sales. Gold topping $2,700 an ounce for another record high and companies whose shares have hit fresh all-time highs today include Facebook and Instagram parent Meta, Caterpillar, Ralph Lauren, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line,

McDonald's, Hilton, T-Mobile, and Netflix. The U.S. economy grew in the last quarter. GDP third time around the block on second quarter and we still see some movement, which is pretty interesting. From 2.9% expected, we get 3%. CNBC's Rick Santelli, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week, fell to its lowest level in four months. The U.S. job market is solid. Here's Rick again. Initial claims, 218,000. It just remains so well behaved. The insurance industry watching as Hurricane Helene rolls toward Florida. It's poised to do billions of dollars in damage.

Forecasters say it could reach Category 4 strength by the time that it makes landfall in Florida tonight. And it could potentially be the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in over a year. The National Hurricane Center warns that the storm surge could climb to 20 feet along some parts of the coast. The governor there making it very clear you have to get out of the way of this. CNBC's Becky Quick, as many as five states now have declared states of emergency. Pending home sales missed estimates for August. Pending home sales in August rose 0.6 percent compared with July, according to the National Association of Realtors.

That's a slight miss. The Realtors blaming that on still very high and still rising home prices. This count is based on signed contracts not closing. So it's people out shopping in August when mortgage rates were coming down off their recent highs of over 7% on the 30-year fix. Some of the big homebuilders reporting recently, like Lenar and KB Home, noted pent-up demand on the sidelines as potential buyers wait for rates to go even lower. CNBC's Diana Olick, the national average rate on a 30-year fixed home loan today?

It's about 6.2 percent, according to Mortgage News Daily. Southwest Airlines shares are up 10 percent this afternoon. It's holding its investor day in Dallas. And CNBC's Phil LeBeau is there. The company raised its guidance for the third quarter. Now they have a $200.5 billion stock buyback that they have announced. That's another reason that shares are moving higher. Two things that have to change at Southwest Airlines.

And Elliott Management Group has said these are front and center in terms of why they want new leadership here. Look at their cost per seat mile. Much higher than the network airlines. And then look at than the network airlines. And then look at on the revenue side, revenue per available seat mile, much lower than the network airlines since 2019. Any way you look at it, the performance has not been up to par. Southwest is also cutting staffing and service in Atlanta to try to save money. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. The vote. It's as American as apple pie. It's iconic. Patriotic. And this November, we're all chanting. It's your turn. Voter up.