CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Lower, Gold Soars Again, United Airlines CEO Not Sure If A Recession Is Coming 4/16/25

Episode Date: April 16, 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, Sharply Lower. Investors waiting for the latest on tariff turmoil. The global trade outlook has deteriorated sharply amid the Trump tariff uncertainty. That is a warning today from the World Trade Organization. The Dow down 160 points. It's being led lower by shares of Nvidia, which are tanking 6 percent. The S&P 500 index down 49 points, 1 percent. The NASDAQ down 300 points. That's almost 2 percent. Gold with a fresh intraday high today of $3,334 an ounce. The 22nd intraday record so far this year as investors flee to what they feel is a safe investment. Something is happening with gold. It is taking off whether you want to say it's because of a declining dollar or uncertainty but that's a new high today and that the gains on a daily basis are

getting even more significant up 82 dollars a day. It just when gold breaks out like this it looks like it's headed to 4000. CNBC's Joe Kernan. Retail sales for March had their biggest gain in more than two years. But when you take out auto sales, the numbers were just okay. Americans dove in to buy pre-tariff new cars. You can't escape the idea that there's some front running in here. And this is making it very difficult to figure out what's going on in the economy. I think the good news is we believe that consumers

have the wherewithal to spend if they're going to spend. And they apparently did some spending ahead of time before the tariffs. CNBC senior economics reporter, Steve Leesman. JP Morgan Chase is suing more customers who it says stole cash in that infinite money glitch that flew around social media last year. Home buyers are rushing into riskier loans as the tariff turmoil pushes mortgage rates higher. The share of borrowers applying for adjustable rate loans jumped to the highest in

more than two years. The average rate on a 30 year fixed home loan today just under 7% according Mortgage News Daily. United Airlines shares popped on better than expected quarterly results. It's calling the economy impossible to predict. United is cutting flights in the U.S. as travel demand slows. Here's CNBC's Phil LeBeau with United's CEO. Do you think we're headed towards a recession? I don't know is the short answer.

I mean, the economy of we have slowed down. You're cutting your capacity by four percent starting in the third quarter. But it's all domestic. Where are you noticing the weakness? You know, I think this is what typically happens in recessions is the high end consumer does relatively well. We've seen the weakness on the low end. The weakest region that we have is domestic. The second weakest region

is Canada-US. And Canada-US is down 5%. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on CNBC. The NBA play-in tournament on with two games tonight. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. Welcome to CNBC Plus. Market destination. CNBC Plus, on the go access to global market data, news and analysis as it happens. Start streaming at CNBC.com slash plus.