CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Higher, Dow Hits Fresh Record, Fed Meeting on Interest Rates Today With Cut Expected Tomorrow 9/17/24

Episode Date: September 17, 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 by CNBC's Jessica Ettinger.

I'm Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. Fresh record high for the Dow this morning. The S&P 500 index, very close to one. The Dow is up 144 points, three-tenths of one percent, being led higher by shares of Intel, which are up more than two percent. The S&P 500 index up 25 points, almost a half percent. And the Nasdaq is up 134 points this morning, three quarters of a percent. The Fed begins a two-day meeting on interest rates this morning. It's expected to cut them for the first time in about four years tomorrow. The new CNBC Fed survey says most believe it'll be a quarter percentage point cut with a soft landing for the economy.

Retail sales came in better than expected for August. Up one-tenth of a percent. We're expecting a negative number. The reason? Because last month we were up a whopping one percent. That was the best going all the way back to the first quarter of 2021. If you strip out autos, it remains up one-tenth. CNBC's Rick Santelli. Microsoft shares are higher today. Microsoft shares up over one and a half percent after it raised its quarterly dividend by about 11 percent to 83 cents a share, also authorizing a new share buyback of up to 60 billion dollars. That news coming on the same day that Microsoft announced new features to its 365 co-pilot, including the addition of Copilot Pages.

CNBC's Frank Holland Copilot is an AI chatbot. When companies buy back their own stock, it means less of it. It's on the market, and that can boost the price. Home Depot paying $2 million to settle claims of overcharging customers at the checkout where people would be charged more than the shelf price for the item. CNN says the L.A. County District Attorney went after Home Depot for scanner violations. The chain has to implement a price accuracy program. Gas prices haven't been this low since January. AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular is $3.20, and 16 states now have gas with a two-handle below $3 a gallon. Cyber threats

have increased. It's election season, but they also now have a lot of companies on edge. The ability for attackers to conduct threats effectively is much less expensive than it is for organizations to defend against them. And that's something that's been the case time and again. Disruption now being such a key factor in that, right? So when we look at these ransomware attacks, we're not only seeing organizations steal data and encrypt it, but they are specifically looking to disrupt the business. Palo Alto Network's Wendy Whitmore on CNBC.

McDonald's has Crocs Happy Meals in restaurants today. There's no free pair of plastic shoes with each meal, but you do get a collectible mini Crocs clip and a sticker. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. My dream entrepreneur. Somebody who started with nothing and built an empire. It's the American dream. Shark Tank, tonight starting 7 Eastern, CNBC.