CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Lower, Walmart Outlines 2025 Challenges, More People Applied for Unemployment Benefits Last Week 2/20/25

Episode Date: February 20, 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 is lower this morning. The S&P 500 index falling from the record high it opened with. The Dow down 200 points, almost a half percent, led lower by shares of Walmart, which are down more than 6%. The S&P 500 index down 17 points. The NasDAQ now down 31 points. NVIDIA shares in the green this morning up a fraction of a percent. Gold hit another record high in today's trading. Slightly more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week than the week before, and more than expected. Economists are waiting to see if any of the government firings show up in the big monthly Labor Department employment report as the Department of Government Efficiency slashes thousands. We obviously won't see it in the next employment report because these layoffs happened very smartly right after the reference week.

That's a very clever way to try to keep these things out of those monthly reports we see. As long as people find a job before the next month's reference week, before the week of March 12th that contains the 12th, they won't show up at all. The University of Michigan's Betsy Stevenson on CNBC. Walmart shares are lower, but off their earlier lows, it delivered a strong 2024 for sales and profit. With fourth quarter numbers now out, we get a look at the whole year last year, but the outlook for this year full of challenges. Some consumers are pulling back their spending and President Trump is pushing a tariff agenda. Inflation has gone higher in the U.S. for four straight months, so wealthier shoppers are now going to Walmart. This is one name, Jim, that's benefiting from inflation, right? And that's part of the enlargement of the audience. Yes,

more well-off people are going. CNBC's Jim Cramer with Carl Quintanilla. And with this morning's quarterly results from Walmart, Amazon has officially passed Walmart for quarterly revenues for the very first time. Major League Baseball spring training games officially beginning today. Dodgers and Cubs opening the Cactus League in Glendale, Arizona. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. The CNBC Changemakers returns. 50 women innovating and driving change across industries.

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