S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 slide as weak jobs data fuels rate cut speculation. Can US indices recover, or is more downside ahead?
Wall Street has been in a wavering mode this week due to the tariff fatigue. The Nasdaq has dropped more than 4% week to date, while the Dow and S&P 500 have slid around 2.9% and 3.6%, respectively.
For the better part of the last 2.5 years, the bulls have been calling the shots on Wall Street. The ageless Dow Jones Industrial Average, benchmark S&P 500, and growth-dominated Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -2.61%) have all soared to numerous record-closing highs.
Heavy losses for tech stocks had the Nasdaq Composite flirting with a correction, defined as a 10% drop from a recent high, as major indexes renewed a slide tied to economic jitters.
US stocks struggle as weak jobs data offsets tariff hopes. Nasdaq nears correction, Dow and S&P 500 flat.
A stock market correction is generally defined as a drop of 10% from recent highs, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite just got there. The Nasdaq has been the best performing major market index for the past two years but has not exactly started 2025 on a high note.
Stocks dropped again Tuesday as President Donald Trump's tariffs sparked queasiness on Wall Street, and leading the stock market woes were shares of Tesla, the electric vehicle firm run by Trump's top lieutenant Elon Musk, also the world's richest man.
US stock indexes are tipped to head higher on the first trading day of March, led by the tech-powered Nasdaq. S&P 500 futures pointed to a 0.5% rise, with Nasdaq 100 futures rising 0.7% and those for the Dow Jones up 0.35%.
The Nasdaq 100 index surged to a record high of $22,220 in February and then suffered a harsh reversal to a low of $20,500 last week. This retreat happened as concerns about Donald Trump's tariffs and after NVIDIA published mixed financial results.
The CNN Money Fear and Greed index showed some improvement in the overall market sentiment, while the index remained in the “Extreme Fear” zone on Friday.
Feb. 27 was a brutal day for tech stocks.
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