CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Mixed, Dow Hits All Time High, Gold Hits All Time High, Traders see the odds of a Fed rate cut by September at 100% 7/16/24

Episode Date: July 16, 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 and reported by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. The Dow jumping to a record high today. The rate cut rally continues. And some investors are betting that the failed assassination attempt on former President Trump would help the GOP nominee in November's election. A Republican win could make way for more tax breaks for corporations and for the wealthy and more favorable policies for investors. The Dow up 547 points at 40,759.

It's up more than 1%. The S&P 500 index up 21 points. The NASDAQ is flat. Companies whose shares hit fresh all-time highs today include News Corp, T-Mobile, Booking Holdings, Hilton, Royal Caribbean, Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares, American Express, Discover, Goldman Sachs, Amgen, Southern Company, and Waste Management. Traders see the odds of a Fed rate cut by September at 100 percent, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Gold jumped to a record today above $2,460 an ounce, also on hopes the Fed

will cut interest rates. U.S. crude oil backed down to where it was at the end of June, around $80 a barrel. Retail sales were better than expected last month. Americans opened their wallets to spend. A dip was expected. The consumer, the backbone of the U.S. economy, continues to remain on relatively solid footing. There is still a good amount of borrowing and spending power on part of the consumer. Stiefel's Lindsay Piegza on CNBC. Two of the categories that continue to do very well are the restaurant sector. People are eating out. And then you have, of course, e-commerce continuing to do well. The non-store retailers are still outpacing every other sector in retail.

Forrester's Sucharita Kadali on CNBC. Amazon's Prime Day sale started this morning. Today and tomorrow are obviously great catalysts for the advertising business that generate incredible value to these advertisers. And then you have the prime effect, which is if you want these deals, you want the free music and you want the video, you got to sign up. And half the U.S. is already on prime. So that keeps driving a recurring revenue stream, driving more advertisers to the platform, drives more data to the platform. Jeffries Brent Thill on CNBC. Bank of America and Morgan Stanley each out with better than expected quarterly results on strong investment banking divisions, with Morgan Stanley especially. CNBC's Jim Cramer

says investors are starting to see a Trump White House that would end many rules financial firms now have to follow. There plays on regulation, and you want to be levered if you think that Trump wins. Holy cow. I mean, regulation. Those are the prospect of better, easier regulation. CNBC's Carl Quintanilla with Mad Money host Jim Kramer. Charles Schwab also reported better than expected quarterly results, but shares were lower this morning on missed estimates for net interest margin. That's a key measure of what a bank makes on its lending business. United Health reported better than expected quarterly results. Major League Baseball's all-star game set for tonight

in Arlington, Texas. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. I think track and field is really special and unique in that you get out exactly what you put into it. When I am in the blocks, it's a really intense time and then I just feel like I'm flying. The Olympics from Paris starts July 26th on NBC and Peacock.