The PCE report also showed fresh signs of declining consumer health, as spending increased less than economists expected, though it recovered from a surprise decline in January.
- US stocks opened lower on Friday as investors assessed the latest inflation data and anticipated reciprocal tariffs expected to be announced next week.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.2%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (GSPC) dropped 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) decreased 0.5%.
- The latest Personal Consumption Expenditures index showed prices increased more than expected last month, rising 0.4% month over month and 2.8% year over year, continuing a stubborn plateau on the path to the Fed’s target.
- Investors also digested President Trump’s auto tariff announcement this week, ahead of reciprocal levies on countries expected on April 2.
- Meanwhile, gold futures (GC=F) rose to a fresh record past $3,100 as investors flocked to the safe haven asset on the heels of the hotter-than-expected inflation data and an escalating trade war.
- The latest reading of the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge came in a bit hotter than expected on Friday. The report, released at 8:30 a.m. ET, comes as investors have been sensitive to incoming economic data as new tariffs and tariff threats have become the primary driver of markets.
- Yahoo Finance’s Josh Schafer reports:
- Read more here.
- In today’s Morning Brief, Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban describes the tariff fog the market has been wading through:
- Read more here or sign up to receive the Morning Brief daily in your inbox.
- United States Steel stock (X) jumped as much as 5% premarket on Friday after Semafor reported that Japanese steelmaker Nippon offered to raise its investment in US Steel facilities.
- Nippon is considered investing $7 billion in US Steel’s Rust Belt factories, higher than the $2.7 billion Nippon previously committed, as the two steelmakers meet with White House officials during active merger talks.
- Shares of Nippon Steel (5401.T) slid as much as 4%.
- Read more from Bloomberg here.
- Lululemon’s (LULU) stock fell over 10% on Friday in premarket trading after the company reported that economic uncertainty and US tariffs on imports from China and Mexico were dampening demand for its pricey athleisure wear and negatively impacting its annual forecast.
- Reuters reports:
- Read more here
- CoreWeave’s initial public offering on Thursday raised $1.5 billion after setting the price of its shares at $40 each.
- The $40 price point is significantly lower than the anticipated range of $47 to $55 per share. Potentially acting as a bellwether for a cooling period in the AI stock boom.
- The size of the IPO was also taken down to 37 million shares from the initial 49 million shares for sale that CoreWeave and other early investors had planned to offer to the public.
- The company lists publicly on the Nasdaq on Friday with the ticker (CRWV).
