CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Mixed, Retailers Bracing For Possible Consumer Pullback, Gas Prices Up 2/14/25

Episode Date: February 14, 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 Ettinger, CNBC. Wall Street is mixed this afternoon, but the major averages are on pace for a winning week. The Dow's in the red right now, down 72 points. The S&P 500 index, its head is above water, up three points. The Nasdaq is up 33 points. Companies whose shares have hit fresh all-time highs today include JPMorgan Chase, Walmart, Facebook parent Meta, Ticketmaster

parent Live Nation, Netflix, and Palantir. It's such a strong start to the year. By the way, the S&P is up just about 4% year-to-date already. We're six weeks into it or so. And so it's got a pretty good head start. If you do see some choppiness, if you have some giveback in the latter part of February or thereafter, you shouldn't consider it abnormal. In other words, just take it in stride because we're kind of due for something like that. Doesn't mean it's going to come. CNBC's Mike Santoli, bad retail sales numbers today for January. After two months of healthy gains during the bustling holiday season,

cold weather being blamed for keeping more consumers indoors and not in stores. The retailers had a very jolly holiday season. However, consumers are concerned and will be thinking twice about making those big expenditures this year. That's LSEG's Director of Consumer Research, Jerome Martis, on CNBC. Retail sales down nine-tenths of one percent last month. From December, a much bigger drop than economists expected and the biggest decline since last January. Inflation has gone up since Election Day. The Wall Street Journal's chief economics

commentator argues it wasn't caused by President Trump, but it is now President Trump's problem. The reason I think it's a problem for him nonetheless is because it casts a shadow over everything he wants to do in the next few years. He wants to raise tariffs, and we know those are on the margin inflationary. He wants to cut taxes. If they're not fully paid for, that also could add inflation pressure. And so these agenda items are pushing inflation away from the Fed's target. That's really the core of the issue. The Wall Street Journal's Greg Ip on CNBC. Big travel week ahead for families with kids off for President's Week, the winter break, and prices at the pump are higher. AAA

says the national average for a gallon of regular is $3.16, up nine cents a gallon over the past month. Major airlines offering waivers today to get passengers to change their flights without fees heading into this big President's Week travel period. Lots of public schools are off as storms across the country force flight delays and cancellations. The 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend is starting in San Francisco. Tonight is the celebrity basketball game. New in theaters this weekend, IFC's drama Armand, Sony's family film Paddington in Peru, Disney's superhero film Captain America Brave New World.

You're paying a lot more for eggs, coffee, and for those heart-shaped boxes of chocolate on this Valentine's Day. It's Valentine's Day, but soaring cocoa prices could put a dampener on the day, with research suggesting consumers must pay 10 to 20 percent more for chocolate this year. CNBC's Juliana Teitelbaum. I'm Jessica Ettinger, CNBC.