Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 26, 2025.
NYSE
The S&P 500 inched up Friday after the latest personal consumption expenditures price index came in-line with expectations, as Wall Street wrapped up a losing week and month.
The broad market index added 0.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 128 points, or 0.3%.
Month to date, the Nasdaq has led the way down, sliding around 5.3% in February due largely to a 4.8% drop this week. The technology-heavy Nasdaq is on pace for its worst month since September 2023.
The S&P 500 has declined 2.3% for the week and around 2.7% in February. The broad market index is on track for its worst week since September 2024, and biggest monthly decline since April 2024. Meanwhile, the Dow has pulled back just 0.1% for the week. Month to date, however, the 30-stock index has dropped 2.6%.
The latest PCE reading showed that inflation eased slightly in January, according to a report from the Commerce Report. The PCE price index, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, increased 0.3% for the month and 2.5% on an annual basis.
Core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also rose 0.3% for the month and 2.6% year over year. The numbers all came in as expected with Dow Jones consensus estimates.
“This release most likely keeps the Fed in a pause mode for the near term. We still believe that we need to see softer inflation data or weaker unemployment data for the Fed to start cutting again,” said John Lloyd, portfolio manager at Janus Henderson. “The path for policy rates over the next year is certainly more difficult to forecast as the economy and markets will be impacted by governmental policy decisions in the US and around the world.”
Investors have been rattled in recent days by President Donald Trump’s promise of tariffs and recent economic reports flashing warning signs. A decline of 8.5% in megacap tech titan Nvidia in Thursday’s session the back of earnings threw more cold water on investor sentiment.
“February is seasonally a volatile period of time for stocks, and that historical trend is playing out right now,” said Michael Landsberg, chief investment officer at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management. “Investors are in search of more clarity on tariffs, elevated inflation and the state of the consumer.”
