Market Open: Stocks Rise, S&P 500 and Nasdaq at New Highs, Yields Ease • 10/6/26

0:00This is CNBC Business News Update Market Open. I'm Jessica Ettinger. Wall Street higher out of the gate. The S &P 500 index and the NASDAQ each notching fresh record highs this morning. Treasury yields have been pulling back. The yield on the 10-year note hit 5.4 % yesterday. It's below 5.3%. This morning, the Dow up 230 points, almost a half percent. Caterpillar shares leading it higher. They're up 1.9%. The S &P 500 index adding 41 points. That's a half percent. The Nasdaq up 170 points. That's a little more than a half a percent. NVIDIA shares building on the record high. They're up another one percent today.

0:43The midterm elections are one month from today. Oil prices are sliding as Middle East exports build U.S. crude back around$88 a barrel. It was$68 the day before the U.S. sent missiles into Iran at the end of last February. But Real Macro's Jeff Curry tells CNBC that with refineries around the globe running at full speed, the amount of gas, diesel and other products that can come out of a barrel of oil is limited. And that could keep prices elevated. Whether you're talking about diesel or crude oil, as well as gasoline, all of these markets are getting more thinly stretched. What was supposed to be a transient event has extended on, you know, seven or eight months at this point.

1:29And now it's starting to have a substantial impact across the entire barrel. President Trump signing an executive order allowing cheaper red dye diesel on U.S. highways to try to lower prices for truckers. Fuel for tractors and construction equipment is dyed the color red. It's often taxed at a lower rate in some states. Paramount's$110 billion purchase of Warner Brothers Discovery closed this morning. Here's CNBC's David Faber. Paramount, which is now the owner of Warner Brothers Discovery. And of course, they own CBS already. Now they own CNN as well and a stable of cable networks. And most importantly, HBO Max, the streaming service and the studio Warner Brothers itself.

2:15The deal has been completed. It now will trade under the symbol SKYD. Alphabet shares ticked up and Constellation Energy shares jumped. Google announced a major long-term power deal with Constellation. Car buyers stretching their loans to afford payments and get into that new car. Edmunds analyst Joseph Yoon tells CNBC it's a potential warning light. More than a quarter of all new car buyers who took out a loan to buy a vehicle in Q3 got a loan that's at least 84 months long or longer, according to Edmonds. That's at least a seven-year car loan. The Q3 average car payment hit a new record,$787 a month.

3:01Amazon's fall Prime Day sale has started along with the competing Target Circle sale. Walmart's week-long sale started yesterday. McDonald's Monopoly game began today. They're calling it simpler. The top prize is a million dollars cash. They're also giving away a 2027 Jeep Cherokee, along with those little instant food prizes like small fries. National Taco Tuesday is here, too. Deals and discounts at many of the taco chains in the U.S. today. Jessica Ettinger, CNBC. From gas prices to housing prices, from government spending to consumer spending, from the AI boom to the data center backlash. How will this election hit your pocketbook and your portfolio?

3:46Continuing coverage, the economy election, CNBC. This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab, provides an information-packed daily market preview on stock updates, U.S. and global economic news, monetary policy decisions, and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and subscribe at schwab.com slash market update podcast, or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.