S&P 500 Falls 3% and Nasdaq Composite Plunges 5% In February Driven By White House Chaos

Barry Adams
28 Feb, 2025
New York City

Stocks pulled back for the second week in a row, and benchmark indexes are set to close down in February amid heightened worries linked to the state of the U.S. economy. 

The S&P 500 index edged up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced a fraction, but both indexes are set to close down for the week and the month. 

The S&P 500 index is down 2% and the Nasdaq by 5% as of the close of Thursday, as investors worried about resurgent inflation and a weakening economic backdrop. 

In February, the S&P 500 index is down nearly 3%, and the Nasdaq Composite has lost 5.4% after initial euphoria surrounding the presidential election waned. 

On the economic front, the Personal Consumption Expenditure price index eased to 2.5% in January from 2.6% in December, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, slowed to 2.6% from 2.8%.

On a monthly basis, headline and core inflation increased 0.3% from the previous month.

 

Commodities, Currencies, Indexes, Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.1% to 5,870.30, the Nasdaq Composite edged down 0.1% to 18,522.64, and the Russell 2000 index was down 0.3% to 2,133.30.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.06%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.26%, and 30-year Treasury bonds declined to 4.53%.

WTI crude oil decreased $0.80 to $69.55 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged lower by $0.03 to $3.90 a thermal unit.

Gold decreased by $25.48 to $2,850.32 an ounce, and silver edged down by $0.16 to $31.06.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, increased 0.02 to 107.27 and traded at a two-year high.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

Redfin Corporation dropped 11.5% to $6.76 after the real estate broker reported a wider-than-expected loss in its latest quarter. 

Rocket Lab USA dropped 12% to $17.50, and the company reported sharply higher revenue in the fourth quarter. 

Revenue soared 121% to $132 million, net loss expanded to $52.4 million from $50.5 million, and diluted losses per share were nearly unchanged at 10 cents.

Nvidia Corporation declined 1% to $118.76 and extended a two-day loss to 10%, despite the artificial intelligence company reporting a surge in revenue and earnings in its latest quarter. 

Dell Technologies dropped 4.4% to $103.17, despite the personal computer and server maker reporting a rise in demand driven by the need for artificial intelligence applications. 

Autodesk Inc. dropped 3% to $271.66, despite the design software developer's estimated annual sales increase in 2025, and announced its plans to cut its workforce by 1,350.