U.S. stocks sold off on Friday, with investors jolted by hotter-than-expected inflation data, souring consumer sentiment and President Trump’s tariff announcements.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 700 points, on pace for its largest percentage drop since March 10. The worrying signs included inflation picking up, as tracked by the Fed’s preferred measure. That figure, excluding volatile food and energy prices, came in at 0.4% for February, or 2.8% compared with a year earlier. Both rates were slightly ahead of forecasts.
Consumer sentiment also soured, which investors fear could slow spending. Stocks declined across the board, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which slid about 2.6%. Gold and bond prices climbed, as market participants pushed into safer assets.
Some investors view next week—when the U.S. is expected to further detail major reciprocal tariffs and implement auto tariffs announced by President Trump—as a potential turning point for the direction of the market.
“When you have a big day like that and everyone’s anticipating the worst, what people do is they take risk off, so we’re seeing the selling accelerate going into a weekend,” said Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. “I think the event itself will probably get a rally. It’s sell the rumor, buy the news in this case.”
Lululemon Athletica shares sank, after the activewear maker said more economically cautious consumers could drag down sales growth this year.
A selloff in automakers extended. Hyundai Motor in Seoul slid 2.6%, while German carmakers BMW and Mercedes-Benz slipped. General Motors stock lost around 2% in afternoon trading.
In recent trading:
Major indexes fell. The S&P 500 fell about 2% and is on pace to be down for the week for the fifth time in the last six weeks.
Benchmark Treasury yields declined. The 10-year yield dropped below 4.27%, after settling Thursday at 4.369%. Yields move inversely to bond prices.
Gold notched a new record, rising 0.8% to $3,087 per troy ounce.
Bitcoin’s price slipped. It traded around $84,000, down more than 2% from late Thursday.
Overseas stocks mostly declined. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.8%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.8% and 1.9%, respectively, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost around 0.7%.
—By Caitlin McCabe and Vicky Ge Huang
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