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US stocks seesawed on Friday as Wall Street assessed the crucial monthly jobs report amid market uncertainty driven by President Trump’s volatile trade policy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) erased earlier losses to rise 0.6%. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) gained 0.7%, with the broad-based index on pace for its worst week of the year. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) erased earlier losses to trade 0.7% higher after closing in correction territory on Thursday.
US nonfarm-payrolls showed an added 151,000 jobs last month, slightly less than the 160,000 expected by economists, while the unemployment rate ticked up from 4% to 4.1%. The stakes were high for February’s job report as stocks flounder amid fears of weakening economic growth. Downbeat economic data has boosted bets on interest rate cuts this year.
SNP – Free Realtime Quote USD
(^GSPC)
As of 2:46:09 PM EST. Market Open.
^GSPC ^DJI ^IXIC
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated on Friday that the central bank is not in a hurry to cut interest rates as policy uncertainty continues to weigh on markets and cloud the outlook for the US economy. His comments were among the last from Fed officials before their March 18-19 policy meeting.
Trade war worries are still keeping markets on edge. Trump paused tariffs on most goods from Mexico and Canada. Canada responded with a matching delay in its second wave of retaliatory duties, while Mexico has yet to directly react. However, Trump said he may impose reciprocal tariffs on Canadian lumber and dairy products as soon as today
Read more: Trump pauses tariffs on most imports from Mexico, Canada
On the earnings front, Broadcom’s stock (AVGO) tipped higher after the US chipmaker issued a strong second quarter forecast, seen as a positive sign for AI demand.
LIVE 16 updates
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Billionaire investor David Booth: Long-term investors aren’t panicking
Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi writes:
Read more here.
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McDonald’s on pace for record close as fast food chain revamps its technology
McDonald’s (MCD) stock rose more than 3% on Friday while the rest of the market was tumbling. The stock is on track for a record close as the fast food chain outperforms in the face of economic uncertainty.
The company is upgrading its technology at 43,000 locations with internet-connected kitchen equipment, drive-throughs and management tools enabled by AI, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, soft economic data — including an unemployment rate that ticked higher last month — is sending investors toward the shares of companies that may perform better if the economy slows.
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Fed Chair Powell stresses patience on rate cuts, policy uncertainty: ‘We do not need to be in a hurry’
Yahoo Finance’s Alexandra Canal and Jennifer Schonberger report:
Read more here.
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Federal government employment falls by 10,000 in February as DOGE cuts slowly make impact on US labor market
Yahoo Finance’s Alexandra Canal reports:
Read more here.
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Nvidia market cap shrinks by $1 trillion from record high
Nvidia (NVDA) has shed roughly $1 trillion in market cap since shares of the AI chip giant hit a record closing high in early January.
On Friday, the stock slipped more than 2% as selling on Wall Street intensified.
Shares of the AI darling hit a record close of $149.43 on Jan. 6. On Friday, they traded near $107 as the company’s market cap stood at $2.6 trillion.
Nvidia stock took a hit in late January after Chinese startup DeepSeek released an AI chatbot model, calling into question the lofty valuations of US chi makers.
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Tesla stock wipes out nearly all post-election gains
Tesla (TSLA) stock slipped more than 3% on Friday and is on pace to lose nearly all of its post-election gains on Friday.
Shares of the electric vehicle giant hovered near $255 each, just shy of their closing price of $251.44 on Nov. 5, 2024. The stock ripped higher on Election Day in anticipation of the presidential election results later that evening.
Tesla was an early “Trump trade” winner as investors assumed CEO Elon Musk’s close relationship with the newly elected president would benefit the stock.
But as Yahoo Finance’s Alexandra Canal recently pointed out, market euphoria has all but evaporated. Trump’s tariff war escalation has sparked fears of slow economic growth while, at the same time, inflation remains stubbornly elevated.
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Construction hiring, unemployment rise in February in sign labor supply can meet demand
The latest jobs report released Friday showed the construction industry increased its pace of hiring while unemployment for workers in the industry also rose.
Data from the Labor Department showed that construction firms added 19,000 jobs in February, following a small gain of 4,000 in January. This marked the strongest month of growth since the third quarter of 2024.
However, this growth came alongside a rise in the construction unemployment rate, which increased to 7.2% compared to the overall unemployment rate of 4.1% for the month.
“The sizable jump in the industry unemployment rate indicates that the labor supply can accommodate ongoing hiring,” Associated Builders and Contractors chief economist Anirban Basu said.
Basu also warned that the decline in government roles driven by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency may have further implications for the construction sector.
“Federal job and spending cuts, as well as elevated uncertainty, could eventually diminish construction activity at the margins, but those effects have yet to appear in these employment data,” he said.
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Stocks move to session lows as selling accelerates
Stocks moved to session lows on Friday morning after flipping between positive and negative territory. The major averages are on pace for weekly losses amid uncertainty over the economic impact of tariffs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.5%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 0.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) dropped 0.6% after closing in correction territory on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 (^NDX) headed toward correction territory on Friday, or 10% off its record high.
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Bitcoin rises to $91,000 as investors await White House crypto summit
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) jumped back above $90,000 on Friday as investors awaited a White House crypto summit expected to begin in the afternoon.
The token hovered near $91,000 around 9:55 a.m. ET.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and MicroStrategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor are among the industry leaders attending the White House gathering.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve.
The reserve will be initially funded with bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. The US government is estimated to own around 200,000 bitcoins, with a full audit of its holdings mandated.
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Stocks pull back after monthly jobs report and rise in unemployment to 4.1%
The major averages edged slightly lower on Friday following the release of a closely watched monthly jobs report awaited comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.4%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) dropped after closing in correction territory on Thursday.
SNP – Free Realtime Quote USD
(^GSPC)
As of 2:46:09 PM EST. Market Open.
^GSPC ^DJI ^IXIC
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released before the opening bell showed 151,000 new jobs were created in February, less than the 160,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate jumped slightly from 4% to 4.1%.
Investors may receive some clues about how policymakers view the economy when Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks on Friday at an economic conference.
Friday’s stock market movement caps a volatile week as investors assess the economic impact of the Trump administration’s efforts to trim government agencies and implement tariffs on imports.
On Thursday, President Trump announced additional goods and services from Mexico would be temporarily exempt from 25% levies imposed earlier in the week. The White House later said some Canadian imports would also receive an exemption until April 2.
This follows a one-month relief from tariffs for the Big Three US automakers announced on Wednesday.
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February jobs report: US labor market adds 151,000 jobs, unemployment rate ticks up to 4.1%
The US labor market added fewer jobs than forecast in February while the unemployment rate ticked higher amid increasing investor fears over the trajectory of the economy.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Friday showed 151,000 new jobs were created in February, less than the 160,000 expected by economists and higher than the 125,000 seen in January. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% from 4% in the prior month. January’s monthly job gains were revised lower from a previous reading of 143,000.
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Walgreens stock pops as retailer nails its exit from market
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) shares jumped almost 7% before the bell on news the drugstore giant is preparing to exit the public markets.
The company has sealed its go-private deal with Sycamore, worth up to $23.7 billion, following months of negotiations with the PE firm.
Yahoo Finance’s Anjalee Khemlani reports:
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It’s retailers’ turn to be ‘resilient’: Morning Brief
In recent weeks, retailers Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY), and, most recently, Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) have spooked investors after they warned about profit pressures and price hikes resulting from tariffs.
Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban writes in the Morning Brief:
Read more here or sign up to receive the Morning Brief newsletter straight to your inbox.
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Broadcom stock jumps as outlook eases AI worries
Shares of Broadcom (AVGO) rose over 11% in premarket trading, set for a rebound as investors welcomed the US chipmaker’s strong second quarter sales forecast.
The Apple supplier’s outlook helped revive some faith in Big Tech demand for AI chips after rival Marvell’s (MRVL) downbeat earnings helped drive losses among semiconductor stocks on Thursday.
“Given the anxiety about AI conditions in general, these results should come as a relief,” Morgan Stanley analysts said, per Reuters.
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Jobs report expected to show hiring uptick, unemployment steady
Yahoo Finance’s Josh Schafer reports:
The February jobs report is expected to show hiring picked up in February, while the unemployment rate held steady. This comes at a crucial moment for markets as stocks have recently been floundering amid fears about economic growth weakening in the US.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report is slated for release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Economists expect nonfarm payrolls to have risen by 160,000 in February, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4%, according to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
With markets in a slump — amid a string of weaker-than-expected economic growth data — Citi head of US equity trading strategy Stuart Kaiser told Yahoo Finance that Friday’s jobs report is a “pretty significant risk to the market.”
“A good jobs print helps, but it’s probably not enough to sort things out,” Kaiser said. “And if you got a weak print, let’s say below 125,000 jobs [added], or in particular, if the unemployment rate rose, I think you would have a pretty big pullback in US equities in response to that.”
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Trump establishes strategic bitcoin reserve signed order
White House crypto czar David Sacks said in a post on X that U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve.
The reserve will be initially funded with bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings. The US government is estimated to own around 200,000 bitcoin, with a full audit of its holdings mandated.
David Sacks tweet:
