CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Higher, US Crude Oil Now Higher, Apple Introduces Its Cheapest Macbook 3/4/26

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

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 and reported 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 Ettinger. CNBC, Wall Street is in the green this afternoon. The Dow up 280 points, a half percent. Amazon shares leading it higher, they're up three and a half percent. The S&P 500 index up 64 points, that's 1%. The NASDAQ up 357 points. That's 1.5 percent. Shares of Nvidia now up almost 2.5 percent this afternoon. There are companies who shares at fresh all-time highs today. Oil, name Valero, discounter Ross, dress for less, and J.B. Hunt transport. What the markets are saying is they're conditioned to these things. These things pop up every year. Russian Ukraine, 2022, Silicon Valley, 2023. Last year, Liberation Day. Diversified portfolios work in this environment. I think the one risk that we would look at is oil prices. The lack of protection that you're getting in bonds keeps us up at night a little bit because as oil prices went up, bond yields went up, but just the outright level of oil prices. $75, not problematic. We traded about $81 on average in all of 2024. The economy did fine. J.P. Morgan's Phil Kemporelli on CNBC, U.S. crude oil did a turnaround. The price

had fallen a little bit, but then it started to tick into the green climbing slightly higher. But Carlisle Energy Pathways Jeff Curry tells CNBC, crude oil should get much more expensive. The complacency of the market just doesn't make sense. The straits are shut right now. That's 20 million barrels a day. At most, that oil glut, at most is, you know, 250, maybe 300 million barrels out there.

You're going to burn through that in, you know, very short order. Yes, you know, there is a statement that the U.S. is going to help, you know, protect any convoys going through the strait, but even the military has questioned the capability of that being, executed upon. It was very tight. It's quite dangerous right now. The global oil problem that comes with war in the Middle East will make gas prices even more expensive. And that would push U.S. inflation even higher, says Raymond James Larry Adam on CNBC. I'm quite worried. I had put out a forecast suggesting inflation could reach 4% on headline CPI.

energy, consumer prices, lagged pass-through of tariffs, lagged effects of the deportations of migrant workers, but also fiscal stimulus continuing, loose monetary policy. And so whether or not you buy that, we've got this new worries and pressures from the actions in the Middle East,

and I think that's just going to push further up on inflation. Apple announced its most affordable laptop ever. it's trying to compete with Chromebooks and entry-level Windows laptops. The MacBook Neo. It runs on an iPhone chip. It starts at $600. On Thursday's watch list, we get earnings, more retailers, Costco, BJ's wholesale, Kroger, Burlington stores, and Gap.

We'll get the latest on productivity. We find out how many people applied for unemployment benefits last week. We also get the latest on import prices. I'm Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. by the Horns every morning with Jim's top 10. Write to your inbox. Sign up now for free at cnbc.com slash top 10.