CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Mixed, China Announces Retaliatory Tariffs, Retailers Brace For Tariff Fallout 2/4/25

Episode Date: February 4, 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 Ettinger. CNBC. Markets are mixed out of the gate as China announces retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made goods that it imports. The Dow down 48 points. The S&P 500 index up three points. And the Nasdaq's in the green, up 63 points. NVIDIA shares this morning up a little more than 1%. One election and things have changed for investors. We had last year, we had a very strong year. We had 57 record highs. So in those kinds of environments, you're setting yourself up where there's not a lot of margin for error. Hence, you saw the market sell off quickly on the hair trigger fashion last Monday with deep seek and you saw this Monday with the tariff news. So you have to take that stuff into account

where certain events which may have been reacted to in one way a year ago are going to be reacted to differently now. Bespoke's Paul Hickey on CNBC. The Trump trade war has spooked investors, although the president threatened tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Shortly thereafter paused them for 30 days.

They have not taken effect. Retailers are scrambling again with the threat. Retailers had begun to diversify away from China before the first Trump administration's tariffs. The bad news is some of it was nearshoring to Mexico. More than 20 percent of denim is sourced from Mexico, according to the American Apparel and Footwear Association. Now, tariffs on Canadian imports and additional tariffs on China-made goods is trouble for Best Buy. Now, Home Depot says that it will source the majority of its goods from North America. So some portion of that is likely lumber from Canada, if and when the price increases come down for consumers as a result of these tariffs. Again, we know the timeline is sort of moving, but let's work on the information that we know now.

It won't probably happen until early summer. CNBC's Courtney Reagan. Google parent Alphabet will report quarterly results after the closing bell this afternoon. Pfizer beat earnings forecasts last quarter on the surprise sale of more COVID products. Flu cases, meantime, have hit a five-year high in cities like New York, according to the city's health department. PepsiCo out with solid quarterly results. Shares were lower, though, as demand for drinks and snacks dropped in North America. That coincides with the use of weight loss drugs. Ferrari profit zoomed higher in the last quarter by more than 20 percent. It's forecasting more growth for this year. Vanguard is now cutting fees on more than 160

mutual funds and 80 exchange-traded funds. The move comes less than a month after Vanguard agreed to pay more than $100 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission over alleged violations involving its target date retirement funds. The cost to rent a home or apartment is coming down in some areas where the supply is higher. Redfin is out with a list of most affordable rental cities. At the top is Austin, Texas, followed by Houston, Salt Lake City, Raleigh, North Carolina, Denver, Phoenix, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Nashville. Waffle House has added a 50 cent per egg surcharge as egg prices soar. CNN says Waffle House is America's largest breakfast chain with 40,000 workers and 2,000

locations in 25 states. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. Essential investing tools for wealth management. Plus CNBC global market news and analysis tailored to your holdings. Become a smarter investor with the power of CNBC Pro. Go to CNBC.com slash get pro now.