CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Lower, Warsh Fed Chair Nomination Heads To Full Senate, Fed Likely To Hold Interest Rates Steady Today 4/29/26

Episode Date: April 29, 2026

The CNBC Business News Update with Jessica Ettinger features market numbers & news with CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business names. Updated throughout the business day. Visit https://www.cnbc.com/ for more. 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. Major averages all in the red on Wall Street this afternoon as investors wait for earnings after the closing bell today from four of the so-called magnificent seven stocks. Amazon, meta-alphabet and Microsoft. The Dow is down 306 points now. Boeing shares leading it lower. They're down almost 4%. The S&P 500 indexed down 15 points. The NASDAX down 66 points.

Companies who shares hit fresh all-time highs today include a head of earnings, Amazon and Alphabet, plus Intel. The Senate Banking Committee voted today to advance Kevin Warsh's nomination to lead the Federal Reserve, a party line vote that tease up President Donald Trump's pick for a final confirmation vote in the Republican-controlled Senate. Warsh told the Senate Banking Committee he will not be a Fed chair that's in the job just to do whatever the president wants him to do like lower interest rates. meantime, a Fed decision on interest rates comes this afternoon. It's expected to hold them steady, and it's possibly Fed Chair J. Powell's last meeting. Oil prices soaring again. President Trump issued a new threat to Iran. U.S. crude oil hit $103 a barrel.

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed now starting the third month. Airlines, especially in Europe, are facing a bidding war for available jet fuel supplies. And prices at the pump are at a four-year high. Again. AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular today went up another six cents. Now at $4.23 per gallon. The day before the U.S. sent missiles into Iran, a gallon of gas had a two-handle. $2.98. Consumers are very sensitive to prices at the pump. And you can see that in the lowest consumer sentiment readings we've seen since the beginning of the Michigan survey, gas was the one bright spot on price. Now, the gas price increase of over a dollar at the pump, that is now really weighing on consumer sentiment. That's former National Economic Council Director Lael Brainerd on CNBC.

The U.S. needs more homes, and the home builders started building away. More single family homes in March, and it was good until it wasn't. You saw this big jump in housing starts coming off of a February jump in starts. People were expecting this good spring. You had seen rates come down into the 5% range. There was a lot of optimism. We started March with the 30-year fixed at 5.99%. Then you get hit with the war.

Rates go up. By the end of March, we were at 6.64%. And that's why building permits are just the opposite of starts. You have them down 7.9% on single family year over year. Housing permits should not be down in the heart of the spring market. But this is where that rate effect, that uncertainty, the war is really hitting the builders. That's CNBC's Diana Oleg. On Thursday's watch list, earnings are coming from Apple. We find out how many people applied for unemployment benefits last

week. We get a read on U.S. economic growth with GDP numbers, gross domestic product. Inside that report will be a new read on inflation, the PCE numbers, personal consumption expenditures. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. A new era in Omaha begins. Newly mented CEO Greg Abel takes the helm at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. Becky Quick and Mike Santoli with full coverage. Watch live Saturday starting 9.15 a.m. Eastern, only on CNBC.com.