CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Lower, Dow On Pace For 9th Straight Down Day, TikTok Makes A Plea 12/17/24

Episode Date: December 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. The major averages all in the red this morning. The Dow is on pace for its ninth straight losing day and on its longest losing streak in six years, down 214 points this morning, a half percent. It's being led lower by shares of Nvidia, which are now in correction territory, down 10% from a recent record high.

Today, the drop is another 2%. The S&P 500 index in the red, down 25 points. The Nasdaq, down 79 points, four-tenths of 1%. Bitcoin hit a record high of $107,000. November retail sales overall came in better than expected as Americans are working and their salaries are outpacing inflation. There were some hiccups in the numbers though including car sales. Those were lighter than forecast. I think you have a steady consumer here. I wouldn't be jumping on the headline number of 0.7 percent and say this is a consumer that is

accelerating here between what happened in October and some hurricane bounce back effects in November. CNBC senior economics reporter Steve Leisman. Now consumer spending makes up about two-thirds of U.S. economic growth and Bank of America sees some strong spending linked to the Fed starting its rate cuts back in September. In the middle of summer I think the consumer had slowed down and I was getting concerned that the Fed starting its rate cuts back in September. In the middle of summer, I think the consumer had slowed down and I was getting concerned that the Fed was going to get behind a bit on cutting rates. As soon as they said they were going to cut rates, they saw consumer enthusiasm pick up a little bit. You saw a little more activity because they realized in the future the rates are coming down. So you started the spending picking back up for the two weeks around

Thanksgiving. It's five percent plus of all kinds of spending over last year. And that's stronger than it would have been last year, the year prior to that. Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan on CNBC and the Fed's two-day meeting on interest rates is on. This is day one. It's widely expected to cut rates with an announcement coming tomorrow afternoon. A new CNBC survey, though, says only about two-thirds of those asked think it would be the right move. A sizable group believes the Fed shouldn't cut. It should pause because inflation has ticked higher. TikTok will be sold to an American owner or banned in the U.S. in the coming weeks. And the Chinese parent company is begging President-elect Trump for help. The CEO of TikTok

was at Mar-a-Lago yesterday. And the company's begging the U.S. Supreme Court for help, too. ByteDance is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily block the law that would force ByteDance to sell TikTok or shut it down by January 19th. This comes after an appeals court on Friday rejected TikTok's request to halt the ban. TikTok saying that the ban would result in the censorship of over 170 million Americans on January 19th and that small businesses on TikTok would lose more than $1 billion in revenue and creators would suffer almost $300 million in lost earnings in just one month unless the ban is halted. CNBC's Julia Borsten critics say TikTok is a U.S. security

threat sitting on the phones of 150 million Americans. Walmart employees are wearing body cams in some stores. It's a pilot program to see if the cameras help deter conflict and prevent theft. Earlier this year, TJX companies said its loss prevention workers are wearing body cams in some locations. That company owns TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Home Goods. Hollywood getting set for the Oscars. Short list of nominees announced at noon Eastern today. Mega Millions is nearly three quarters of a billion dollars.

Tonight's jackpot at 740 million. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. Jim Cramer is the benefit you get that you can't get anywhere else. He has a unique ability to know the market, explain it to people. It's a great value. Get invested. Join the club today. Go to cnbc.com slash join Jim.