Market Midday: Stocks Higher Before Expected Rate Hike, Builder Sentiment Falls • 9/16/26

0:01See NBC Business News update midday. I'm Jessica Ettinger. Wall Street higher. Ahead of a pivotal interest rate decision by the Fed, it's widely expected to raise interest rates for the first time since 2023. Americans would pay more on any credit card balances they're carrying and any other adjustable rate loans they may have. The Dow is up 26 points, led higher by shares of Honeywell, up two and a half percent. The S &P 500 index up 34 points. The Nasdaq's up 218 points this afternoon. A Fed rate increase of a quarter percentage point is widely expected, but not everybody thinks it should happen.

0:41I'm in the camp that thinks that they shouldn't be hiking rates right now. I think that's the minority position. I understand that. They probably will still hike rates. You've got the war, the AI investment cycle, tariffs, a host of things that are skewing the numbers. I don't see this surge of demand-led inflation that higher interest rates is going to curb. I don't want to say there's no reason to hike rates. I just think the preponderance of the evidence right now should be that they should be waiting. That's Solis Alternative Asset Management's Dan Greenhouse on CNBC today. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury was hovering just around 5 percent, It's highest since the 2007 great financial crisis.

1:19Other key loan rates have been rising along with bonds over the past few weeks, including mortgages, which loosely follow the yield on the 10-year Treasury. The average rate on a 30-year fixed home loan today, its highest since January of 2025 at 7.22%. That's according to Mortgage News Daily. Full coverage of the Fed interest rate decision. It comes at 2 Eastern today on CNBC TV, CNBC.com, and on the CNBC app on your phone. As mortgage rates have risen, well, the homebuilders are feeling worse about their business. Here's CNBC's Diana Olek. Homebuilder sentiment dropped three points in September on the NAHB Wells Fargo Index.

2:01This is the lowest reading since last September when it was also 32. Builders cite high mortgage rates, labor shortages, and rising material costs. Now, mortgage rates, of course, have shot higher this month with the 30-year fix now at the highest rate in well over a year at 7.22 percent, according to Mortgage News Daily. 66 percent of builders reported using sales incentives in September. That's up from 63 percent in August and the highest share since last December. 38 percent cut prices up from 35 percent in August. Retail sales ticked higher in August, up 1.3 percent from July. That was their biggest increase since March.

2:38Better than expected. Americans are spending. But the numbers are not adjusted for inflation sitting at 3.4 percent. U.S. crude oil back around$102 a barrel this afternoon, compared with just$68 a barrel before the U.S. war with Iran. Drivers do have new pain at the pump this afternoon. The national average for a gallon of regular hitting$4.37, according to AAA. Diesel at a new record high today,$6.31. since. Canada has been invited to become an associate member of the European Union amid a trade war with the U.S. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney looking on as the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the formal invitation.

3:23This is not a partnership against anyone else, but for our common strength. In short, we want to bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible. And dear Mark, I said we must urgently re-imagine our partnerships. So I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to being the first associate member of the European Union. I'm Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. Building a portfolio with Fidelity Basket portfolios is kind of like making a sandwich. it's as simple as picking your stocks and etfs sort of like your meats and other topics and managing it as one big juicy investment now that's pretty good learn more at fidelity.com slash baskets investing involves risk including risk of loss fidelity brokerage services llc member nycsipc