CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Higher, Investors Hopeful That Iran War Talks Could Happen, New Mexico AG On Win Over Meta 3/25/26

Episode Date: March 25, 2026

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I'm Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. Wall Street higher out of the gate, although Iran's state media says it's rejected a ceasefire proposal from the U.S. It did signal it will allow safe passage for non-hostile ships, including oil tankers, through the strait of Hormuz. The markets are higher. The Dow up 520 points out of the gate. It's being led higher by shares of Amazon, which are up 2.5%. The S&P 500 index up 71 points. NASDAQ's up 308 points. Major average is all higher by at least 1%. Checking shares of NVIDIA this morning, they're up 2.5%. The stock market seems to be okay for now with the idea that we're progressing towards, or at least hopeful of having some sort of talks, which could keep this from going too long and getting worse. That's CNBC's Scott Wapner. More than a thousand

tankers have been sitting for about three weeks in the area. After the U.S. attack on Iran stopped about a fifth of the world's oil supply from moving. Prices at the pump are up again today, but by only about a half penny, AAA says the national average, just under $3.99 a gallon. AAA also says 12 states now have gas prices at the key $4 a gallon level on average. In California, diesel's more than $7 a gallon. CNBC.com's economics editor, Jeff Cox. Wall Street economists are getting a lot more nervous about the prospects for recession in the next 12 months. Moody's has raised its recession probability of nearly 50%.

Goldman Sachs is now up to like 30%. E.Y. Parthenon is around 40. Wilmington trusted 45%. So just getting a lot of this type of conversation from the economist that I'm speaking to. Of course, we're all on edge with uncertainty about the Iran war looming. everyone's nervous about prices at the pump, which have risen by more than a dollar a gallon. Mortgage rates hit their highest since last summer, and mortgage demand dropped last week. Today's average rate for a 30-year fixed home loan back over 6.5%. Meta says it'll appeal a jury verdict that found its Facebook and Instagram are dangerous for kids.

New Mexico won its case against Meta. And the Attorney General tells CNBC that prosecutors focused on the action. product in children's hands. The design features of the algorithm, the lack of age verification, the implementation of end-to-end encryption, all of which created an environment which was both dangerous for kids and addictive. We also were able to show that the company's own safety team had been recommending for years and highlighting for years the dangers of these features. They were repeatedly ignored by Mr. Zuckerberg and other executives.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres also tells CNBC people inside Instagram and Facebook clearly agreed with the state's claim. Prioritizing profits over safety in terms of ignoring safety recommendations from their own internal staff. And it's one of those things that really grabbed the jury's attention. I think it's noteworthy that this was a six-week trial. The jury came back in less than a day. That's a pretty resounding message. Netflix will show its first live major league baseball game tonight with opening night for the regular season. Yankees are playing the Giants. I'm Jessica Eddinger, CNBC.

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