US stocks fell on Friday, extending the sellouts in the wake of Dour Economic Reports and closing the book in a week that was scaled down to the holidays.
All three major US stock indices have decisively lowered the heels of the data and continued to slide into afternoon trading.
The S&P 500 experienced its largest daily percent decline since December 18th.
All three indexes lost ground this week, and the Dow has registered a sudden entry from Friday to Friday since mid-October.
“I don’t like all of this red on Friday,” said Greg Bassuk, CEO of Axs Investments in New York. “We see consumer sentiment, tariffs and corporate revenues leaps forward in AI and technology as key drivers in the market direction.”
Economic data showed that business activity slowed, consumer sentiment worsened, and survey participants expressed an increasingly depressing outlook in the face of economic unknowns.
The data came shortly after Walmart’s disappointing guidance on Thursday, sparking fears of undermining consumer demand.
The optimism of US companies is “evaporating,” according to a PMI commentary provided by Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global.
“Uncertainty is the story of a new investor,” added Bassuk of Axs Investments. “It’s causing the volatility we saw this week.
“We expect uncertainty and volatility to last at least until the end of this first quarter.”
Megacap Momentum Stocks fell 2.9%, and all inventory in “Magnificent Seven” ended in negative territory with Nvidia as it reported revenue for the next week and fell 4.1%.
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The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index has been closed at its highest level since February 3rd.
This week, Donald Trump said he would soon be unveiling new tariffs covering timber and forest products on the heels of previously announced plans for imported vehicles, semiconductors and drugs.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell to 43,428.02 to 748.63 points (1.69%). The S&P 500 fell to 104.39, or 1.71%, to 6,013.13. Nasdaq Composite fell to 438.36, or 2.20%, to 19,524.01.
Of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, all but consumer staples fell, and consumer discretion and technology suffered the most sudden percentage losses.
