CNBC Business News Update - Market Open: Stocks Up, Iran Talks Resume, US Props Up Yen • 8/3/26

Episode Date: August 3, 2026

The CNBC Business News Update with Jessica Ettinger features market numbers & news with CNBC expert analysis and sound from top business names. Updated throughout the business day. Visit CNBC.com for more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm Jessica Eddinger, CNBC. On this first day of August trading, Wall Street's higher out-of-the-gate oil prices are falling. President Trump says new talks with Iran are starting up today. The Dow up 648 points, 1.5%. Microsoft shares soaring this morning up more than 4%. Amazon up more than 4%. The S&P 500 index is up 45 points. That's a half percent.

The NASDAQ up 133. points, that's a half percent. For July, it was a mixed month for the major averages. The NASDAQ is coming off its worst month since March of 2025. The major averages are all higher for the year, though. Oil prices dropping today on U.S. Iran war optimism with U.S. crude down below $80 a barrel falling more than 6 percent. AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular gas is holding at about 409. And while inflation-weary Americans continue to endure $4 gas. White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hesitt tells CNBC that the inflation numbers are fantastic for the last couple of reports. And he points out the cost of housing.

One of the metrics of shelter costs that I find most interesting is that they're going down pretty rapidly in places like California because everybody's leaving. And so when we look at the aggregate numbers, the fact that it's actually, even though they're high prices in California, it puts downward pressure on inflation because shelter costs are such a big share. of inflation and everybody's leaving the state. Would be homebuyers looking at houses over the weekend, facing some of the highest mortgage rates in a year. Mortgage News Daily today,

with the average rate on a 30-year fixed home loan eyeing 7% sitting at 6.83%. The U.S. stepped in to prop up the Japanese yen. The first currency intervention in 15 years, analysts pointed to concerns about U.S. Treasury markets and the stability of Japan's financial system. The yen fell to its weakest level against the dollar in nearly 40 years. Merger Monday, possibly in the drug industry.

Here's CNBC's Dominic Chu. Drug makers, AstraZeneca and then Bristol Myers, moving in opposite directions on reports that the companies are considering a possible mega merger that could be valued at roughly $400 billion. Now, if it were to happen, the merger would be one of the biggest pharma deals ever. analysts were kind of generally puzzled by the news, but one attraction for Astrosenica could be boosting its U.S. presence. Astrosenica declined to comment when contacted by CNBC. Bristol Myers did not immediately respond. Canadian airline WestJet flight attendants have agreed to end their strike after reaching a tentative pay deal.

The country's second largest airline canceled hundreds of flights through tomorrow. The strike began yesterday during a three-day holiday weekend for most provinces. Marriott shares were falling in early trading today on mixed quarterly results, but the company raised its outlook for room revenue growth. Sony's Spider-Man movie notched the second biggest opening weekend ever. Spider-Man, brand-new day, earned an estimated $355 million. That is just shy of the all-time domestic opening weekend record that was set by Avengers endgame seven years ago. Intelligence says that more than 24 million people went to see the film this weekend in the United States and Canada. And that is without the benefit of the IMAX release.

Those IMAX screens have been reserved for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. CNBC's Becky Quick. The powerball jackpot tonight close to three quarters of a billion dollars at $748 million. You can get more on these stories and the day in business at CNBC.com. I'm Jessica Eddinger, CNBC.