U.S. stock markets closed sharply higher on Friday after a choppy session. Market participants ignored verbal clash between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the Oval office meeting. Investors’ confidence was also boosted by inline inflation data. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory.

However, last month was a disappointing for Wall Street on concerns on Trump’s tariff and trade policies. All three major stock indexes ended in negative zone. On the other hand, last week was a mixed one. The Dow closed on a positive note while both S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite finished in red.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) climbed 1.4% or 601.41 points to close at 43,840.91. At intraday low, the blue-chip index was down nearly 159 points. Notably, 26 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory and 4 ended in negative zone. 

The major gainer of the index was NVIDIA Corp. NVDA. The stock price of the global leader in generative artificial intelligence chips space surged 4%. NVIDIA currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 18,847.28, jumping 1.6% or 302.86 points due to strong performance by technology bigwigs. In intraday trading, the tech-laden index was down 104 points. The S&P 500 appreciated 1.6% to finish at 5,954.50. In intraday trading, Wall Street’s most observed benchmark was down 19.1 points.

All 11 broad sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory. The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE), the Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU), the Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF), the Communication Services (XLC) and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) were up 1.6%, 1.5%, 2.1%, 1.5% and 1.7%, respectively. 

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 7.1% to 19.63.  At intraday trading, the fear-gauge index touched 22.40, its highest since Jan. 27. A total of 17.5 billion shares were traded on Friday, lower than the last 20-session average of 15.4 billion. The S&P 500 posted 39 new 52-week highs and 14 new lows while the Nasdaq recorded 43 new 52-week highs and 332 new lows.

Trump- Zelenskiy Verbal Spat

U.S. stocks dipped intraday trading following the disaster in an Oval office meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The two-supremo engaged in verbal spats before world’s media. Zelenskiy left the White House without signing a much-hyped agreement between the two countries regarding the joint development of natural resources.

Ukraine is an important ally of the United States. Market participants were concerned about the future of the prolonged geopolitical conflicts between Ukraine and Russia and its repercussion on the U.S. economy. The U.S. economy is suffering from sticky inflation and have shown the signs of weakness.

Economic Data

The Department of Commerce reported that the headline personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation increased 0.3% in January, in line with the previous month. Year over year, PCE inflation rose 2.5%. The core PCE inflation (excluding volatile food and energy items) – the preferred inflation gauge of Fed – rose 0.3% in January, in line with the consensus estimate and previous month’s data. Year over year, core PCE inflation rose 2.6% in January compared with 2.9% in December.

Personal income rose 0.9% in January compared with the consensus estimate and previous month’s data of 0.4%. Personal spending unexpectedly declined 0.2% in January in contrast to the consensus estimate of 0.2% rise. The metric for December was revised upward to 0.8% from 0.7% reported earlier. Personal savings rate came in at 4.6% in January. The metric for December was revised downward to 3.5% from 3.8% reported earlier. 

Weekly Roundup   

Last week was a mixed one for Wall Street. The Dow rose 0.1% while the S&P 500 fell 0.1%. On the other hand, The Nasdaq Composite tumbled 3.5%. The technology sector suffered the most on concerns of the continuation of the generative AI momentum.

Monthly Roundup

U.S. stock markets ended on a negative note in February. The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite tanked 1.6%, 1.4% and 4%, respectively. Investors were clueless regarding the impact of Trump’s tariffs and restrictive trade policies on the U.S. economy.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research