CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Higher, Retail Sales Were Strong In June, Fewer People Applied For Unemployment Benefits Last Week 7/17/25

Episode Date: July 17, 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 Edinger, CNBC. Wall Street's in the green this morning with slight gains. Traders digesting the latest corporate earnings reports and President Trump's anger that the Fed Chair Jay Powell hasn't lowered interest rates, which is up to a panel that votes and meets again at the end of the month. The Dow up 119 points. Travelers shares leading at higher. They're up 1.7 percent.

The S&P 500 index up three points this morning. The Nasdaq up 17 points. Nvidia shares are unchanged. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren joins CNBC to talk about the president's jaw boning of the Fed chair over interest rates. The Fed chair is different from all of the cabinet officials. All the cabinet officials can say as they have, I will do whatever the president of the United States wants me to do. The Fed chair sits in a different box and he is supposed to be independent

and make those decisions. I disagree with him often in this case about how he's made those decisions, but the independence itself, it's a value to the United States, it's a value to our markets. If Donald Trump destroys that, then he brings down those markets.

He burns something of value to the United States. Retail sales rebounded for a strong June from a week May. The US consumer spent more than expected last month for the best monthly increase since March. Retail sales. These are advanced readings are going to change in a couple weeks.

Headline number expected up 110 zoom zoom zoom up 6 10th up 6 10th that would be the second best number of the year. CNBC's Rick Santelli. The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week came in at the lowest since mid-April as businesses hang on to workers. But the number of people who continue to collect unemployment checks is still more than 1.9 million, suggesting they're having a harder time finding their next job. The future of three crypto bills in Congress is uncertain after two days of House Republican infighting over what's in them and the process for moving the bills forward, but rules of

debate were finally approved after a group of no votes flipped to yeses. GE Aerospace smashed expectations for quarterly results. It makes both commercial and military aircraft engines, critical engine components, cockpit voice and flight data recorder systems and much more. For the aviation industry the CEO reiterated safety on CNBC. The Air India crash, the GE engines were not implicated in any way with at least initially in this investigation in terms of the crash. Our priorities start with safety then quality and only then do we talk about delivery and cost. SQDC always in that order whether it be with respect to product safety and employee safety. GE aerospace CEO Larry Culp on CNBC with CNBC's Phil LeBeau. Archer Daniels' Midland shares were falling

after President Trump said Coca-Cola will be made with cane sugar. Coke executives told NBC they haven't committed to that. ADM is a food processing company that supplies high fructose corn syrup. Sugar futures were soaring. United Airlines shares struggling on weaker revenue in the last quarter. Travel demand fell. Fewer foreign visitors coming to the U.S. Earnings were better than expected though.

Chipmaker Taiwan Semi with a 60% profit increase in the last quarter. Its shares were higher. The Open Championship Round 1 is on at Royal Port Rush in Northern Ireland for golf fans. Jessica Edinger, CNBC.