CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Lower, Investors Waiting For Earnings From Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, US Crude Oil Hits $103 per Barrel 4/29/26

Episode Date: April 29, 2026

The CNBC Business News Update with Jessica Ettinger features market numbers & news with CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business names. Updated throughout the business day. Visit https://www.cnbc.com/ for more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Jessica Eddinger. CNBC Wall Street is in the red out of the gate for the major averages. Investors are on hold. They're waiting for earnings after the closing bell this afternoon from four of the so-called magnificent seven stocks. Facebook and Instagram parent meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft. The Dow, down 126 points. It's being led lower this morning by shares of Sherwin Williams, which are down 1.8%. The S&P 500 index down 13 points. The NASDAQ down 97 points in VITA, pulling back by 1% this morning. We also get a Fed decision on interest rates this afternoon, 2 p.m. Eastern. It's possibly Fed Chair Jay Powell's last meeting.

The Fed is expected to hold interest rates steady. Today I think we're going to see the statement state very similar to what we saw before. But I think what you'll see is some conversation about how much, those tariff price shocks, which are still working their way through the system, now being joined by oil price shocks, could actually change consumers' expectations and leave inflation higher for longer. That's former National Economic Council Director and former Fed Vice Chair Lael Braynard on CNBC. Oil prices popping again after President Trump issued a new threat to Iran. U.S. crude oil hit $103 a barrel.

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed. It is now heading into month three. Airlines, especially in Europe, are facing a bidding war for available jet fuel supplies. Right here, right now, the Hormuz destruction is making us lose millions of barrels per day. The assessment of damage that we are not appreciating, particularly in the West, the timeline for production recovery could actually be a lot longer. Energy aspects, Amrita Sen on CNBC. is at the pump today at a four-year high again. AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular today went up nearly six cents like it did yesterday. Gas now on average $4.23 a gallon.

The day before the U.S. sent missiles into Iran, a gallon of gas had a two handle, $2.98. Billionaire Elon Musk on the stand again today in California in his lawsuit against OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, claiming that OpenAI. pivot to a for-profit company, abandoned its nonprofit mission, and deceived Musk in the process. Musk's lawyers accused Open AI of essentially stealing a charity. They tried to boil it down to that. Musk and Altman, they founded what they called at the time, the Manhattan Project for AI to take on Google. Altman's lawyer on the other side argued that Musk is a competitor at this point who's doing everything he can to attack Open AI. And according to lawyers, what Musk wanted at all of this was to control OpenAI.

argued that he did actually want OpenAI to be a for-profit. And at one point, attempted to merge it with Tesla. That's CNBC's Kate Rooney. Young Brands out with quarterly results that beat forecasts fueled by 8% same-store growth at Taco Bell. Booking holding shares fell as the U.S. war on Iran is forecast to possibly impact travel. It owns booking.com, priceline kayak, and open table. A lot of people going through Dubai, a lot of people going through Doa. And that really disturbed a lot of the travel there. Of course, the question is, what happens next? And look, it's nothing we can say except that, obviously,

we're going to be impacted for some time until this thing ends. Booking holding CEO Glenn Fogel on CNBC. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. The central bank's key interest rate is expected to hold steady. But could the Iran war stall future cuts? Wednesday at 2 Eastern and streaming on CNBC Plus.