CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Lower, Tariffs Take Effect Tonight, Home Builders Face Higher Prices 3/3/25

Episode Date: March 3, 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 Eddinger, CNBC. Investors no longer shaking off the idea that tariffs take effect tonight and markets have spun around. They're all lower this morning. The Dow now in the red down 16 points, led lower by shares of Nvidia, which are plunging more than 5%. The S&P 500 index now down 23 points. That's three tenths of 1%.

The NASDAQ falling 144 points. That's three quarters of 1% to start March trading today. The stock market enters this new month facing some economic jitters and intense policy noise from the White House that has been denting confidence, according to some investors. I think he's doing things in a manner that is very destabilizing, and he's trying to change the whole ethos of the country.

You know, I look at the Statue of Liberty, I think the message of the base is give me a poor message, the earning to be free, you know, and, you know, we're rejecting that now and we're taking a different approach. I understand what he's doing. He's focusing on the deficit, but which has to be focused. But, you know, focusing on the deficit is contractionary. Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman on CNBC.

Bitcoin popped nearly $14,000 in three days on President Trump's crypto reserve announcement. The crypto reserve idea includes more than just Bitcoin. The U.S. set to begin imposing 25 percent tariffs at midnight on all imports from Canada and Mexico, plus an additional 10 percent tariff on goods coming in from China. The countries are planning to retaliate, but Treasury Secretary Besant called the situation fluid over the weekend. Canada supplies the U.S. with lumber used by home builders. And tariffs there could mean new homes are just going to cost more.

The majority of lumber imports to the U.S. come from Canada, and there is already a 14 and a half percent dumping tax on Canadian lumber. The 25 percent tariff potentially going into effect tonight would be on top of that. The NHB's chief economist said builders told him the tariffs could increase builder costs anywhere from $7,500 to $10,000 per home. Appliances come from China and Mexico. You're seeing aluminum and gypsum. That's all your wallboard.

That comes from Mexico as well. So if you see tariffs on that, you're looking at increased costs for builders, and they're going to trickle that down to buyers. Of course, you already have home prices for new homes very high right now. CNBC's Diana Olek. The Hulu streaming service owned by Disney, Comcast and others ran into issues during the live Oscars broadcast last night. Thousands reported the service wasn't working on downdetector.com.

Others reported the show cut off early. Independent filmmaker Neon Executives celebrating their best picture win from last night for its film, Anora, at the Academy Awards. Domino's Pizza finally launched stuffed crust pizza to compete with rivals. Tesla shares up three percent today, although the company lost a third of its value last month. Tesla stores were protested across the country over the weekend. Thousands of people carrying signs saying things like, stop the Nazi coup. Some of the negativity surrounding the stock has been attributed to anger over Elon Musk's role in trying to cut government spending, as well as investor fears that he's not focusing enough on his companies. Over the weekend, demonstrators protested Musk and his Doge spending cut initiative

outside Tesla stores across the country. Nine people were arrested during a protest outside a dealership in New York.