S&P 500 Starts March With Weekly Slide Amid Tariff Worries, Weaker-Than-Expected Jobs

MT Newswires Live
03-08

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.1% this week, pushing the market benchmark into the red for the year amid worries about tariffs and a weaker-than-expected February jobs report.

The S&P 500 ended Friday's session at 5,770.20, marking its third consecutive down week. The index has dropped 1.9% from where it ended 2024.

Investors are worried about economic impacts from the Trump administration's tariff policies as well as job cuts. Earlier this week, the administration said it would be placing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, though it later delayed some of the tariffs by a month. Meanwhile, its Department of Government Efficiency has been cutting jobs across the government.

The February employment report showed nonfarm payrolls rose by 151,000, which was smaller than the increase of 160,000 jobs expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The unemployment rate rose to 4.1% in February from 4% in January. No change had been expected.

All but one sector of the S&P 500 fell this week. Financials had the largest percentage drop, sliding 5.9%, followed by a 5.4% decline in consumer discretionary, a 3.8% loss in energy and a 3.4% decrease in technology.

KKR (KKR) was hit hardest in the financial sector, falling 15%. The company priced 45 million shares or $2.25 billion worth of its 6.25% Series D mandatory convertible preferred stock at $50.00 per share.

Among consumer discretionary stocks, shares of Best Buy (BBY) fell 12% as Chief Executive Corie Barry warned of price rises due to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. Best Buy also issued a full-year earnings outlook that fell short of Wall Street estimates at the midpoint.

The energy sector's drop came as crude oil futures also fell on the week. Diamondback Energy (FANG) was among the decliners, losing 12% as the company said it priced a debt offering to raise $1.2 billion.

In technology, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) shares shed 20% as the company issued fiscal Q2 profit guidance that trailed analysts' projections, citing industry-wide "uncertainty" from the current US tariff policy. Hewlett Packard Enterprise also shared plans to achieve roughly $350 million in run-rate cost savings by fiscal 2027 through job cuts. It plans to reduce its workforce by 5%, or about 2,500 employees, over the next 12 to 18 months.

Health care was the lone sector in positive territory for the week, edging up 0.2%.

Moderna (MRNA) was the sector's best performer, with its shares jumping 15% as a German court ruled that Pfizer (PFE) and its partner BioNTech (BNTX) infringed a COVID-19 vaccine patent owned by Moderna, according to a Reuters report. The court ordered Pfizer and BioNTech to disclose earnings related to the patent's use and pay a compensation to Moderna, according to the report.

Next week, earnings reports are expected from companies including Oracle (ORCL) and Adobe (ADBE).

Economic data will feature the February consumer price index and producer price index, two closely watched inflation readings.

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