CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Lower, US Crude Oil Up 4%, National Average For US Regular Gas Held Steady Overnight 3/26/26

Episode Date: March 26, 2026

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I'm Jessica Eddinger. CNBC, Wall Street's in the red, out-of-the-gate oil prices rising this morning. Investors reacting to headlines again. President Trump threatening that Iranian negotiators better get serious soon before it's too late. As more U.S. Marines head to the Middle East, the Dow, down 235.5. It's being led lower by shares of Caterpillar, which are down almost 2%. The S&P 500 Index, index, is down 50 points, the NASDAQ down 230 points. That's a little more than 1%. Shares of

Nvidia are down 1.5%. At this point, I think everyone's now recognizing that this conflict can go on for much longer. It doesn't take much for the Iranian regime to threaten the Strait of Hormuz. A simple $50,000 drone can literally bring traffic to a halt. So now I think we're trying to factor in, hey, what would the really long-term scenario look like? The repricing, is slowly happening now, so it's not necessarily reactive. I think most of us are trying to be now proactive and we're looking ahead. Seabert's Mark Malick on CNBC, U.S. crude oil up 4% today, back above $90 a barrel. Brent crude is just below $107 a barrel. For the first time since the U.S. attack on Iran, prices at the pump in the U.S. did not go up overnight on average.

AAA says the national average for a gallon of regulars $3.98. cents. Twelve states in Washington, D.C., now average $4 a gallon gas. Maryland is extremely close at two one hundreds of a cent under. One investor tells CNBC there is a U.S. plan with Iran, and oil prices are going to go up as that plan is fulfilled. We're going to leave with that uranium. We know where it is, we think. But again, because it's highly enriched, it's not going to be that difficult for us to find. Just from, you can measure it from a radiation. And again, we follow it very closely. But that's one of the objectives, you know.

There was no easy button on the oil side. You know, it takes 25 to 28 days for seaborne oil to make its way to Asia from the straight. That's about now. I think you're going to see Brent at 150. Rochefort Ventures CEO, Kyle Bass, on CNBC. The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week came in as expected. $210,000. And how does that?

stack up? Well, our last look was 205,000, no revision yet. And do keep in mind, these numbers are historically low. CNBC's Rick Santelli. Continuing claims the number of people still collecting unemployment checks week after week, that fell to the lowest level in nearly two years last week, suggesting more people are finding their next job. Wall Streeters got bigger bonuses last year. The New York State Controller's Office says the bonus pool reached a record of more than $49 billion, with the average bonus rising to nearly a quarter million dollars, $246,000. Wall Street profits last year were up by more than 30%. It's opening day for Major League Baseball today.

11 games are scheduled. Tonight, NCAA March Madness Sweet 16 round begins. Today is equal payday for women. Women in the same job as men have to work until March 26th of the next year to earn what men earned in just one year by December 31st. Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. Money doesn't make the world go around. Information does.

And CNBC is the great economic equalizer because we provide that information so you can make the decisions that are right for you.