US stocks slumped Friday as worries flared again on Wall Street about tariffs and inflation.
- The Dow fell 444.23 points, or 1%, to 44,303.40, a drop of 0.5% for the week.
- The S&P 500 fell 57.58 points, or 0.9%, to 6,025.99, down 0.2% for the week.
- The Nasdaq fell 268.59 points, or 1.4%, to 19,523.40, a decline of 0.5% for the week.
Traders digested a discouraging report suggesting sentiment is unexpectedly souring among US consumers, the
AP reports.
The preliminary report from the University of Michigan said they expect inflation in the year ahead to hit 4.3%, the highest such forecast since 2023. That's a full percentage point above what consumers said they were expecting a month earlier, and it's the second straight increase of an unusual amount. Economists pointed to the possibility of US tariffs on a wide range of imported products, which President Trump has proposed and could ultimately push up prices for American consumers. He said Friday that he's likely to have an announcement on Monday or Tuesday on "reciprocal tariffs, where a country pays so much or charges us so much, and we do the same." The consumer-sentiment data followed a mixed update on the US job market.
Stocks of big US companies continue to swing as they report how much profit they made during the last three months of 2024. Most are reporting better results than expected, which is typical, but that's not always enough. Amazon topped analysts' expectations for earnings at the end of 2024, but its stock nevertheless fell 4.1%. Investors focused instead on its forecast for upcoming revenue, which fell short of analysts' expectations. Homebuilders also tumbled to sharp losses as fewer cuts to interest rates by the Fed could help keep mortgage rates high. DR Horton fell 5%, and Lennar sank 4.2%. On the winning side was Expedia Group, which leaped 17.3% after reporting better profit for the last three months of 2024 than analysts had forecast. (More Wall Street stories.)
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