CNBC Business News Update - Market Midday: Stocks Modestly Lower, Energy Secretary Says No $3 Gas Anytime Soon, Meta Cuts Thousands 4/20/26

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

CNBC Business News Update with Jessica Ettinger - market numbers and news featuring CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business names. 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. Modest losses on Wall Street this afternoon. The ceasefire is shaky in the Middle East, but it is a very muted drop today. The Dow is down 56 points. The S&P 500 indexed down 28 points. The NASDAQ down 155 points. Checking shares of Invidia, those are lower by 1.5%. Companies who shares have hit fresh all-time highs today include eBay, Ross, Dress for Less, and FedEx. 13 steps forward and a half step back, because that's basically what we've done, 13% and 13 days. Clearly the market, at least the indexes, came into this week riding a pretty historic streak. And so I always go back to kind of the basic principles, which is when the market has one of these extraordinarily fast comebacks, when you do see the persistence of a gain where you don't have, you know, losing days interrupting them, you have to respect it.

You can't dismiss it as a fluke or as a head. That's CNBC's Mike Santoli. Rapid and Energy CEO, Scott Modell, has been warning the market. We're always a little bit surprised about how quick the market is to react to rosy statements coming out of the administration that the conflict is over and there's nothing more to see here and we're on the verge of an off ramp. We're really far apart. There's a lot of underestimating of Iran.

I think I'm not even sure the Iranians are going to show up to talks this week. As long as there was a blockade in place and their ships are not allowed to move, the Iranians are saying, that's a showstopper for us. So there are certain fundamental realities that have not shifted, and they suggest that a deal is going to be really, really difficult to get. Here's a take and maybe a warning from Alianza's Mohamed El-Aryan on CNBC. We're looking now at higher inflation for longer. We're also looking at lower growth for longer. So while the markets have had relief, the economic side has not. Oil is higher today. U.S. crude? Up six percent.

percent. Gas prices may not drop below $3 a gallon until next year. Energy Secretary Chris Wright made that warning on CNN's State of the Union yesterday. AAA says prices at the pump hit $4.4 a gallon yesterday. On Friday, February 27th, before the U.S. launched missiles against Iran that night. The national average for a gallon of regular was $2.98. cents. American Airlines shares were falling today after the company dismissed a mega merger with United Airlines. Facebook and Instagram parent meta starting sweeping job cuts today. Reuters reports 10% of its global workforce will be cut in the initial round. That's about 8,000 employees. The tariff refund system launched this morning to pay back importers the tariffs. They paid to the government that were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. Jessica, Eddinger, CNBC.

CNBC is the network for ambitious people. Ambition. It's got America written all over it.