CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Mixed, Oil Higher, Prices At The Pump Rise Again 3/24/26

Episode Date: March 24, 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 has turned fully red this afternoon. The Dow down 40 points, led lower by shares of Salesforce, which are now down 6%. The S&P 500 index down 24 points. The NASDAQ falling 210 points. That's just about a full 1%. U.S. crude oil is up more than 5% this afternoon. Prices at the pump up again. Triple A says the national average for a gallon of regular. sitting at $3.98. $4 gas is now the average in 11 states. Americans are paying at least $1 more per gallon on average than they were just a month ago. When people go to the pump right now, the experience of the average person is the things that they spend the most money on. Food, beef, up 18% year to date, and gas are much more expensive. They are increasingly dis-saving to fund that. UBS is Ali McCartney on CNBC, and Moody's economist Mark Zandi tells CNBC, the U.S. recession risk keeps rising.

I don't know that the consumer is really doing all that well, in aggregate. I mean, obviously there's differences across the income distribution. Even before the conflict, I thought recession risks were on the rise. I mean, most surprising to me, inflation, it's obviously on the high side and moving higher, and that's all before these hostilities have kicked into gear. City Group's head of global commodities research, Max Layton, spoke with CNBC's Joe Kernan about the war with Iran and oil. The two sides are still very, very far apart. So while the negotiations are a positive sign, if indeed they are happening, it is hard to see in the short run how the demands of both sides can be met.

You're not sure they're happening, Max? Well, is anyone? Leighton adds the worst case scenario is pretty bleak for the American economy. The rally in prices that we've seen so far has taken the cost to the global economy of just crude oil and products alone. So not gas, not food. It's taken it from $2.5 trillion at the start of this year, ballpark, to $4.5 trillion annualized at the moment. So we've got a 2% of global GDP shock right now. and if this continues for another couple of months, you're talking about, you know, a 1970-style 6, 7% of GDP oil shock.

United Airlines will continue raising airfares. The company's already cutting some flights because it absolutely expects some people to just not pay those higher prices to fly. CEO Scott Kirby talked with CNBC's Phil LeBoe. Do you foresee substantially higher fares this year? from here, even after raising them? I think fares will continue to go up in line with oil prices. I mean, in any business, but certainly in airlines, you've got to pass through the costs of the inputs. And that's our second biggest cost behind labor.

It'll probably mean less flying as a result, because there will be some less demand. So there'll be less flying. That's part of what we're doing, get ahead of it with a 5% capacity reduction. Epic Games is cutting about 1,000 jobs. As fewer people are playing, it's hit video game, Fortnite. tonight. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. Money doesn't make the world go around. Information does. And CNBC is the great economic equalizer because we provide that information so you can make the

decisions that are right for you.