CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Plunge, Trump Trade War Is On, Superbowl Week Is On 2/3/25

Episode Date: February 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 Edinger, CNBC. Wall Street selling off out of the gate this morning. Investors reacting to a trade war. The Dow is down 434 points. That's just about 1% being led lower by shares of Nvidia. They're down more than 5%. The S&P 500 index down 89 points. That's one and a half percent.

And the Nasdaq now down 365 points, 1.8 percent. Right now, investors seem to be betting that Trump's trade war with tariffs on goods coming into the U.S. from Canada, Mexico and China will end pretty soon. Here's CNBC's Mike Santoli. I don't think if people felt as if it was going to be this level of tariffs indefinitely that you'd be down only a percent and a half. The big question on Wall Street this morning is how long will the trade war last or are the tariffs kind of permanent? President Trump has linked the new tariffs to progress on issues like fentanyl, immigration and trade deficits, suggesting actions by Mexico, Canada and China could undo them.

But he's made other comments that suggest there actually may be no way to get rid of them anytime soon. He posted on Truth Social this weekend, make your product in the USA and there are no tariffs. That suggests a different and more permanent underpinning for these moves. CNBC chief economics reporter Steve Leisman. President Trump says he does expect consumers to feel the trade war. We may have short term some little pain and people understand that. But long term, the United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world. Various companies will be affected.

Canada's prime minister vowing retaliation, targeting imports that are manufactured in key Republican states like bourbon from Kentucky, orange juice from Florida. Trudeau also encouraging his citizens to choose Canadian over American brands, putting companies like Brown Foreman, Budweiser, J.M. Smucker in focus. While power was not included in this round, Canada's trade minister, Mary Ng, recently telling us that could be on the table. I don't actually think Americans want us to not be selling electricity, oil and gas to America because, you know, I'm here in New York. The lights on Broadway. Lots of it is Canadian electricity. When it comes to retail, analysts at Redbush write that Mexico

tariffs will most impact Best Buy, given it's nearly 10 to 15 percent sales exposure to that country. CNBC's Seema Modi. Here's Fundstrat's Tom Lee on CNBC. For up-to-the-minute trade war developments, keep it locked to CNBC.com and the CNBC app. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Doge, the Department of Government Efficiency, now have access to the U.S. Treasury system. I was stunned. The Bureau of Fiscal Service is kind of like the accounts payables department for the federal government, cutting the checks that go to households. This data and this infrastructure is incredibly sensitive. reasonable reason why unelected employees of the federal government would need access to this infrastructure. And I frankly cannot come up with one. I worked at the Treasury Department for two years and I was nowhere near this data.

That's former Treasury official, now Yale University professor Natasha Saron on CNBC. Travel demand fell in the second half of last year. Morning Consult says demand dropped even with high-income households spending less on hotel rooms. Americans are cutting back as they face higher prices for travel and for other things. Parkwood Entertainment's Beyonce took the top award at the Grammys last night for her album Cowboy Carter. Super Bowl week is on in New Orleans. There's an opening night party tonight at the Superdome. I'm Jessica Ettinger, CNBC.

CNBC. Live ambitiously.