On Friday, the S&P 500 experienced a decline, falling by 0.7%, and was on track to end the week with a loss, primarily due to pressure on technology stocks amidst ongoing inflation concerns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also dipped by 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite saw a 1% decrease. For the week, the S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq were down approximately 0.3%, 0.2%, and 0.7% respectively.
Tech giants such as Apple and Microsoft saw significant drops, with Apple down more than 1% and Microsoft over 2%. Amazon and Alphabet also experienced declines. However, Nvidia stood out with a gain of more than 1%, despite recent volatility due to concerns over its valuation and profit-taking.
Investor caution has been heightened by recent economic data, including a higher-than-expected rise in the producer price index for February. This has led to speculation about the Federal Reserve's monetary policy direction ahead of its meeting on March 19. There are questions about whether the Fed will see inflation as sufficiently cooled to begin reducing interest rates later in the year.
Despite these concerns, fed funds futures indicate a 99% likelihood of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged at the upcoming meeting. Additionally, trading volumes and price volatility are expected to increase due to triple witching, the simultaneous expiration of various futures and options contracts.
In other market news, Geron Corporation's shares surged by 90% following a positive FDA advisory panel vote on its blood disorder treatment, imetelstat. Micron Technology gained 2.4% after Citi named it a top pick and raised its price target. Rivian Automotive's shares increased by 3.4% after an upgrade and price target raise by Piper Sandler. However, Fisker's shares rose by over 13% despite a challenging week, as the company sought to dispel bankruptcy rumors and secure additional capital.
Adobe's shares fell by 15% due to weak revenue guidance, and Jabil's shares dropped 17% after reporting lower-than-expected revenue and reducing its fiscal 2024 guidance. PagerDuty, Smartsheet, and Ulta Beauty also saw declines following disappointing forecasts. Meanwhile, crypto-related stocks showed mixed performance, with Coinbase and Marathon Digital reversing earlier losses, while MicroStrategy declined. Zumiez, Cardlytics, and Steel Dynamics were among other notable movers, with Zumiez and Cardlytics experiencing significant changes in their stock prices and Steel Dynamics providing strong earnings guidance for the first quarter.
Movers of the hour:
Geron is up 78.00% at $3.12.
Solidion Technology is up 65.39% at $2.15.
Cardlytics is up 54.59% at $12.65.
HCM Acquisition is up 49.52% at $14.43.
Acrivon Therapeutics is up 28.80% at $6.53.