CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Lower, Oil Higher, Airfares Rising As Jetfuel Spikes 3/12/26

Episode Date: March 12, 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 Eddinger, CNBC. Wall Street is lower. Crude oil is higher. Red across the board this afternoon for the major averages. The Dow down 470 points, 1%. 3M shares leading it lower. They're down 3.5% now. The S&P 500 index is down 66 points. That's 1%. The NASDAQ falling, 285 points, 1 and a quarter percent. NVIDIA shares are down three quarters of 1%. CNBC's Scott Wapner and Vertus Investments Joe Taranova with their take. Crude oil up near 9%, almost 95 for WTI, Brent's at 100. That's the whole story. I mean, as long as oil remains as elevated as it is,

as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains as dangerous, if not closed, like it is, you're going to have a problem. The roller coaster ride continues that we've been on for the better part of the last 10 days, and we are unfortunately all becoming oil traders. We're still at a bull market. We still sit about one and a half percent above the 200-day moving average. And candidly, less is more right now. It's a moment to really just step back, observe the environment,

and allow this to unfortunately play out. Three more ships have been attacked. They weren't even in the strait. They were in the Persian Gulf. Iran warns its goal is to drive oil prices way up to inflict pain on the U.S. Gas prices went up overnight again for American drivers. the national average for a gallon of regular, now $3.60. According to AAA, consumers paying 35 cents more per gallon than they were a week ago. Flights already getting more expensive with the

spike in jet fuel prices as Airlines Institute fare increases to try to balance their costs. Cathay Pacific doubling the fuel surcharges on its tickets starting next Wednesday. Australia's Quantis says it's raising fares. Executives at U.S.-based airlines will update investors next week at a conference in Washington. Analysts expect fare increases have likely started. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said last week on the sidelines of an event at Harvard that higher fares were likely. Fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week than the week before as job cuts remain stable. 213,000, Joe.

That's a couple thousand less than expected. subtle revision from 213 to 214 means that this is down 1,000. It continues to be very well behaved. And CNBC's Rick Santelli said housing starts unexpectedly popped in January. The U.S. needs more homes. Comes in much, much better. 1,487,000. This goes against pretty much everyone's calls as to what they were expecting,

either due to weather or builder inventory being on a large, side will be the best since February of last year. So basically about a year, that's a terrific number. But CNBC real estate reporter Diana Oleg notes, before you get all excited about new homes being built, the bulk of homes where construction began in January were multifamily, meaning apartment buildings. Mortgage rates today are higher as they loosely follow the yield on the 10-year treasury. The average rate on a 30-year fixed home loan, six and a quarter. percent now according to mortgage news daily jessica eddinger cnbc the best of the pga t t o't the players championship live on golf channel