US stocks fell sharply on Friday as Wall Street grappled with President Trump’s escalating trade war and weighed signs of reinvigorated inflation pressures as consumer sentiment plummets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gave up 1.6%, or over 700 points, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 2%. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dropped 2.7% as tech stocks led the declines.
The major averages fell on Friday after the release of a hotter-than-expected Personal Consumption Expenditures index reading, which includes the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge of “core” PCE. The reading 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 2% target.
Meanwhile, US consumer sentiment in March plummeted to its lowest level since November 2022. The latest reading from the University of Michigan came in at 57, down from a 64.7 reading in the prior month, as consumers fretted about inflation and the broader economy, perhaps most notably in the labor market.
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