Zinger Key Points
- Wall Street slumped as inflation fears and trade policy uncertainty eroded risk appetite, dragging major indices into negative territory.
- Trump hinted at reciprocal tariffs set to take effect next week, further unsettling markets ahead of new executive orders.
- Brand New Membership Level: Benzinga Trade Alerts
Wall Street slumped into negative territory late in the week as renewed fears over inflation and trade tariffs eroded risk appetite.
The first warning sign came from the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey, which revealed an "unusually large" spike in inflation expectations. The one-year inflation outlook surged by a full percentage point to 4.3%, marking its highest level since November 2023.
Investor uncertainty grew following President Donald Trump's announcement that ‘reciprocal tariffs’ would take effect next week. Trump is expected to sign new executive orders at 2:00 p.m. Friday.
On the macro front, February’s jobs report revealed a mixed outcome, with employment growth slowing down more than expected, yet unemployment fell more than expected, and wages surged more than expected.
Market reaction was swift. The S&P 500 fell 0.6%, erasing its weekly gains, while the Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.9% by 1:00 p.m. trading in New York.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped into negative territory for the week, putting its three-week winning streak at risk. Small-cap stocks underperformed, with the Russell 2000 sinking 1.3%.
Stock-wise, Uber Technologies Inc. UBER skyrocketed by 9.5%, extending its 8.6% rally from the previous session, after hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman revealed a stake of 30.3 million shares in the ride-hailing giant.
In currency and bond markets, the U.S. dollar index – tracked by the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP – rallied following the tariff headlines, while Treasury yields climbed higher. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT dropped 0.8%, reflecting renewed pressure on long-duration bonds.
Gold took a breather, retreating under pressure from a stronger dollar. Meanwhile, Bitcoin BTC/USD erased early session gains, slipping from an intraday high of $100,000 to $97,500.
Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | 1-day %chg |
| • S&P 500 | 6,047.11 | -0.6% |
| • Dow Jones | 44,452.38 | -0.7% |
| • Nasdaq 100 | 21,576.82 | -0.9% |
| • Russell 2000 | 2,279.74 | -1.2% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
- The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY fell 0.6% to $602.79.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA fell 0.7% to $444.45.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series QQQ dropped 0.8% up to $528.47.
- The iShares Russell 2000 ETF IWM flattened at $229.55.
- The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE outperformed, up 0.7%; the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY lagged, down 1.2%.
Friday’s Stock Movers
Stocks reacting to earnings reports included:
- Amazon.com Inc. AMZN: down 3.78%
- Illumina Inc. ILMN: down 8.29%
- Fortinet Inc. FTNT: up 2.86%
- Expedia Group Inc. EXPE: up 15.22%
- Take-Two Interactive Software TTWO: up 14.92%
- Monolithic Power Systems Inc. MPWR: up 7.06%
- Pinterest Inc. PINS: up 17.09%
- SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc. SSNC: up 5.44%
- Principal Financial Group Inc. PFG: up 1.55%
- Mettler-Toledo International Inc. MTD: up 2.12%
- AptarGroup Inc. ATR: down 7.08%
- Post Holdings Inc. POST: up 5.96%
- Mohawk Industries Inc. MHK: down 1.53%
- Boyd Gaming Corp. BYD: down 0.76%
- Encompass Health Corp. EHC: up 1.53%
- VeriSign Inc. VRSN: down 0.32%
- Cloudflare Inc. NET: up 18.39%
- Skechers USA Inc. SKX: down 12.68%
- Affirm Holdings Inc. AFRM: up 23.22%
- e.l.f. Beauty Inc. ELF: down 21.12%
- Fortive Corp. FTV: down 1.64%
- Kimco Realty Corp. KIM: up 0.20%
- Avantor Inc. AVTR: down 9.52%
- Plains All American Pipeline LP PAA: down 2.65%
- Cboe Global Markets Inc. CBOE: up 1.03%
- Construction Partners Inc. ROAD: up 6.75%
- Plains GP Holdings LP PAGP: down 1.56%
- Flowers Foods Inc. FLO: up 0.31%
- Newell Brands Inc. NWL: down 28.38%
- Perella Weinberg Partners PWP: down 6.50%
- Frontier Group Holdings Inc. ULCC: up 16.75%
- Proto Labs Inc. PRLB: down 1.89%
- Green Plains Inc. GPRE: down 19.06%
- Graham Corp. GHM: down 17.34%
- GrafTech International Ltd. EAF: down 4.70%
- Canopy Growth Corp. CGC: down 25.18%
- Iterum Therapeutics plc ITRM: down 5.03%
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