CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Mixed, Tech Shares Higher, Oil Is Lower On Hope New Iran Peace Talks Begin 4/15/26

Episode Date: April 15, 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. Wall Street is mixed this afternoon. The Dow is down 243 points, about a half a percent. Caterpillar shares leading it lower, they're down 3%. The S&P 500 index is up 29 points, inching toward 7,000. And the NASDAQ is up 265 points. That's more than 1%. Companies whose shares have hit fresh all-time highs today include Morgan Stanley State Street Bank of New York Mellon. Garmin and Echo Star. And investors have also been jumping back into tech shares. Facebook parent meta, Google, parent alphabet, and Microsoft all higher this afternoon. One of those effects of the war has been that you will have some consumers that are spending a bit less. And so when growth is coming down, investors are likely going to go to where growth has been strong. Now, tech's been through two quarters of really strong growth without a lot of stock price appreciation until recently. So that sets

the stage for a bit of a coiled spring. You go and gravitate to that growth. And valuations have improved in tech. So I think it's a lot of. It's very reasonable and logical that investors are going there. Silver Crest's Robert Teeter on CNBC. President Trump threatening to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he doesn't leave on his own. Powell will be replaced as chairman of the Fed by a Trump pick at the end of Powell's term in that job next month. But Powell can stay on as a Fed governor. Trump's threat may set up a legal showdown.

The Walt Disney Company has started cutting the thousand people that announced it would cut early. earlier this year. Posts on the layoff.com mentioned TV marketing is one area of cuts. Snapchat parent snap cutting a thousand people. It's trying to improve profitability. Bank of America out with strong quarterly results. People carried higher credit card balances in the last quarter, but fewer customers were delinquent on making their credit card payments. The consumer delinquencies of all types were down year over year. And there's a seasonality. Most of our credit quality discussion is driven by the credit card business, which grows in the fourth quarter, and then you have a dynamic that it comes down. But if you look first quarter last year to first quarter this year, loan balances grew with 3%.

Chargeoffs were down. Delinquencies are down 5 and 30 and other delinquencies. So the consumer credit quality of our portfolio is actually improving. B of A CEO Brian Moynihan on CNBC. Homebuilders are very down about their business with the National Association of Home Builders Sentiment Index hitting a 7.000. month low, anything below 50 is negative. We're expecting a number around 37. It comes in weaker at 34. Yes,

we're lower and we're lower than what we were last month. And what's notable here is that this is the weakest sentiment going back to CEP of 25 when it was 32. It hasn't been above 40 since Feb of 25. That's CNBC's Rick Santelli.

Walmart's private label great value, getting a brand refresh, as it shows people aren't proud to show off great value products in their homes. So they'll look different with more colorful and modern packaging. You're about to pay even more for hamburgers and steaks just as grilling season hits a good chunk of the country. Live cattle prices at an all-time high intraday yesterday. The nation's herd remains historically small. Demand has risen. Reuters says U.S. supplies have hit a 75-year low of cattle that can be processed into hamburgers and stakes. Major League baseball holding Jackie Robinson Day today, all players wearing the iconic number

42 in Dodger Blue. 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.