CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Open Mixed, Inflation Eases Slightly In January, Skype Logging Off 2/28/2025

Episode Date: February 28, 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 Jill Schneider.

I'm Jill Schneider, CNBC. Stocks opened mixed on this last trading day of the month after we got the latest inflation data. The Dow is up about 100 points, the S&P 500 up to the Nasdaq down 76. Inflation eased slightly in January as worries accelerated over President Trump's tariff plans. The Commerce Department says the personal consumption expenditures price index, that's the Fed's preferred inflation measure, increased 0.3 percent for the month and showed a 2.5 percent annual rate. The numbers were all in line with Dow Jones consensus estimates. KPMG chief economist Diane Swank says the numbers will likely keep the central bank on hold for the time being regarding interest rates. This is exactly what the Fed expected to see as well.

And that's most important is that we're getting to a point in time where the year over year comps get much easier and the momentum and inflation is going to show some signs of cooling. The question is, can it stay there? And that's what the Fed has also been warning about. They've even we've even seen some Fed presidents hint at being cautious about the lessons of the 1970s, which of course were a stagflation. Some stocks to keep an eye on today, Dell, the tech stock slid nearly 7 percent after the company missed estimates for its fourth quarter revenue, but its adjusted earnings were better than what Wall Street was expecting. Autodesk

shares ticked higher after the company's fourth quarter results topped Wall Street estimates, but the company also announced it plans to lay off about 9% of its workforce, about 1300 people. Universal Health Services CEO Mark Miller says he's keeping a close eye on the federal government's proposed cuts to Medicaid, but he tells CNBC he remains optimistic. We're talking to folks in both house in all of those sta desire to cut Medicaid fo What they want to do is t fraudulent dollars are be on pace to finish februar make it its worst month since June 2022.

Microsoft announcing today the 21 year old calling and messaging service Skype will shut down in May. Skype won attention in the 2000s for giving people a way to talk without paying the phone company, but it lost steam in the 2010s as people adopted smartphones. Jill Schneider, CNBC. Get tomorrow's big stock stories delivered to your inbox tonight. When you subscribe to Stocks at Night, adopted smartphones. Jill Schneider, CNBC.