General
Stocks Fall as Inflation Anxiety Dampens Mood on Wall Street
The S&P 500 index dropped 2 percent as investors weighed hotter-than-expected inflation data and braced for President Trump’s next round of tariffs.
Concerns about inflation and weak consumer sentiment dragged down the stock market on Friday, as Wall Street keeps struggling to assess the path forward for the U.S. economy with the full impact of President Trump’s tariffs looming.
The S&P 500 tumbled 2 percent, marking one of its worst days since Mr. Trump’s election. The drop extended modest declines from earlier in the day, after the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure came in hotter than economists had expected, intensifying worries about price pressures.
The downturn on Friday pulled the S&P 500 to its fifth weekly loss in the past six weeks. March is on track to be the stock market’s worst month since September 2022; waves of selling in recent weeks at one point left the S&P 500 more than 10 percent below its Feb. 19 peak, a downturn considered a market “correction.” Wall Street sentiment has been dampened by concerns that President Trump’s tariffs and a trade war could push prices sharply higher, discourage consumers and force the economy toward a recession.
Markets had regained a degree of calm in the second half of the month, with major benchmarks recouping some losses. But unease about tariffs is likely to keep fueling daily swings until investors have the clarity they’re seeking, analysts said.
