CNBC Business News Update - Markets Midday: Stocks Mostly Lower Despite Earlier Record Highs, Lower Mortgage Rates Lead To Refinancing Boom, Crude Inventories At 2-1/2 Year Low

Episode Date: September 25, 2024

The latest in business and financial news and how it impacts your portfolio, reported by CNBC's Peter Schacknow

I'm Peter Schach now, CNBC. Stocks are mostly lower, although a higher start to the day did give the Dow and S&P 500 record intraday highs before the averages slipped. The Dow falling 223 points at 41,985. The S&P 500 also lower, but by just about four points. The Nasdaq Composite is up 26 points, or a little more than a tenth of one percent. Despite a mostly down market, a number of well-known stocks have hit new all-time highs today, including Netflix, Walmart, IBM, and Lockheed Martin. Mortgage rates continue to fall, and that's led to a refinancing boom, according to CNBC real estate correspondent Diana Olick. Applications to refinance a home loan surged 20 percent last week compared with

the previous week. Demand was a stunning 175 percent higher than the same week a year ago, and this is the average rate on the 30-year fix. Dropped again to 6.13 percent from 6.15. That is the eighth straight week of declines, and the FHA rate actually fell just below 6 percent to 5.99, and that breaks that psychological level for some borrowers. In other housing news, new home sales fell 4.7% last month, according to new government figures. However, that was a smaller drop than the 5.3% decline that economists were anticipating. U.S. crude oil inventories fell more than expected last week, with the Energy Department reporting oil stockpiles at their lowest levels in two and a half years. Crude prices, however, are still down about 1% today

at $70.60 per barrel. Peter Schach now, CNBC.