FX.co ★ US Stocks Fall on Friday

On Friday, U.S. stocks experienced a downturn, with the S&P 500 declining by 0.4%, the Nasdaq decreasing by 0.6%, and the Dow Jones reducing by 125 points. This movement came as investors assessed the effects of new tariffs and digested the latest Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report. The data revealed that core PCE prices increased by 0.4% for the month, surpassing predictions and causing the annual rate to rise to 2.8%, an indication of mounting price pressures. Additionally, personal spending rose less than anticipated. In the meantime, new reciprocal tariffs are slated to be implemented next week. Among the sectors, consumer discretionary saw the most significant decline, whereas the utilities sector outperformed. The situation was mixed for megacap stocks: Apple fell by 0.5%, Microsoft dropped by 0.4%, Amazon decreased by 1.1%, Meta declined by 0.4%, and Alphabet slipped by 0.6%, while Tesla remained largely unchanged and Nvidia advanced by over 1%. For the week, the three major indices are poised to record slight gains, marking a second consecutive week of positive results. Specifically, the Dow has increased by 0.8%, the S&P 500 has gained 0.5%, and the Nasdaq has inched up by 0.1%.