U.S. stocks saw a dip on Friday following robust producer price inflation data, which raised concerns that the Federal Reserve would be unlikely to lower interest rates in the upcoming period. All major stocks ended the day weakly, with tech-focused Nasdaq experiencing a sharper drop. The Dow closed with a loss of 145.13 points, marking a 0.37 percent decrease at 38,627.99.
Similarly, the S&P 500 closed down by 21.16 points or 0.48 percent at 5,005.57, and Nasdaq wrapped up the day at 15,775.65, dropping 130.52 points or 0.82 percent. Notably underperforming stocks included Digital Realty, Adobe Systems, Airbnb, Moderna, Micron Technology, Nike, and Equinix, which each lost between 2 to 8 percent. Other losers included Amgen, Advanced Micro Devices, Invesco, Netflix, Alphabet, Whirlpool, Oracle, Cisco Systems, Intel, Microchip Technology, and Visa, registering a 1 to 2 percent loss.
In a contrasting trend, Dollar General saw a near 5 percent rally, and other high-performing stocks were Bio-Rad Laboratories, Eli Lily, Target, eBay, Kroger, Merck, Morgan Stanley, Walmart, and Dollar Tree.
Market sentiment was affected by the Labor Department's data, which indicated a higher-than-expected increase in U.S. producer prices in January. These figures, along with similarly hot consumer price inflation data from earlier in the week, augmented concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve could delay interest rate cuts for a longer period than initially expected by investors.
Conversely, the University of Michigan reported a modest increase in consumer sentiment in February, helping alleviate some of the negative market sentiments.
Meanwhile, in the international arena, most stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved higher on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index both saw appreciable gains. European stocks also closed higher, boosted by encouraging UK retail sales data and positive corporate earnings updates.
In the bond market, treasuries declined after making gains in the two preceding sessions. Consequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note rose by 10.8 basis points, reaching 4.299 percent.
