CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Lower, Investors Hopeful For Canada & Mexico Deal On Tariffs, IRS Could Cut Staff In Half 3/5/25

Episode Date: March 5, 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 Edinger, CNBC. A report that the Trump administration is considering a one-month delay of auto tariffs on Canada and Mexico has helped stocks move into the green this afternoon. The Dow is up 115 points now, led higher by shares of Caterpillar, which are up 2 percent. The S&P 500 index is up 1 point. The NASDAQ is up 13 points. Nvidia shares are flat this afternoon. Whispers also out of the White House that a Ukrainian deal could come as well. U.S. officials are rushing to revive a mineral resources deal with that country. ADP says far fewer jobs were created in the private sector last month than expected. Big miss on ADP coming in at just $77,000 for the month of February. That's the smallest

monthly gain since July. CNBC Senior Economics reporter Steve Leesman. Here's ADP economist Neila Richardson on CNBC. This is the first time, and I looked through the data last night actually, this is the first time and I looked through the data last night. Actually, this is the first time that goods have outperformed services since 2018. So that could be the bright spot and a rather downbeat report. Goods hiring means jobs and businesses that make something like a product services hiring includes things like consulting or design firms, hair salons, restaurants. ADP saw a drop in job creation of 28,000 in education and health care last month.

This is the sector that could be responding to federal policy around funding. So in this sector we have health care, we have social assistance, we have education, and all of that bucket is impacted by grants. And so, yeah, there seems to be some uncertainty in that sector. You can see the breakdown on hiring at CNBC.com. Don't worry about an audit. A popular meme on social media today after reports that the IRS is drafting plans to cut as much as half of its 90,000 person workforce. Novo Nordisk taking a page out of the Eli Lilly playbook

launching the NovoCare website for direct to consumer sales of its weight loss drugs. Lilly already has Lilly Direct. NovoCare Pharmacy that's going to lower the cost of all doses of Wigovie. It's going to lower the cost of all doses of will go. We it's going to offer the weight loss drug at a discounted low, low price of $499 a month to uninsured or eligible patients with insurance who do not have coverage for obesity medicine. CNBC's Robert Frank, Southwest airlines closing crew bases in Fort Lauderdale and Austin in a cost cutting push. Southwest has been slashing unprofitable flights and reducing crews in some cities.

It's also slashing 15% of its jobs at its corporate headquarters in the airline's first-ever mass job cut. Shares of fan-dual parent-flutter higher on better-than-expected quarterly results. It's Equal Pay Day, highlighting the pay gap between men and women. It shows how many days women need to work after a full year and into the next year to

earn the same that men earned in just that full year in the exact same job. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. Weeknight. I think bonds represent safety in a world where the president of noninflation has become the chief impediment to higher stock prices. Too many companies can be terrible. There's just way too much fear. Mad Money, weeknight 6 Eastern, CNBC.