MARKET SNAPSHOT

U.S. stocks seesawed but ultimately ended higher after a testy Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Ukraine's Zelensky. Treasury yields fell broadly after inflation from the Federal Reserve's preferred measure came in as expected for January. The dollar rose. Oil fell on concerns about the global economic outlook and rising trade tensions from the Trump administration's tariff plans. Gold settled lower.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

A late-Friday rally wasn't enough to dig U.S. stocks out of their February hole. All three major indexes notched losses for the month, with the Nasdaq Composite's 4% decline leading the retreat. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies veered even lower.

U.S. stocks advanced on the day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.4%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.6%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite increased 1.6%.

On the last day of the month, U.S. stocks seesawed after a testy Oval Office meeting in which President Trump told Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky that he is "gambling with World War III." Major indexes had climbed about 0.5% in the morning before careening lower when Trump pressured Zelensky to wind down his country's war against Russia.

Earlier Friday, Chinese shares ended lower as investor sentiment was weighed down by President Trump's plans to impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods. All sectors closed lower, with software and semiconductor leading the losses.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended 2% lower, the Shenzhen Composite Index was down 3.2% and the ChiNext Price Index declined 3.8%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 5.3% on the tariff developments.

Japanese stocks also ended lower on rising concerns about U.S. tariffs. Chip and tech stocks led the declines. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 2.9%, marking the biggest percentage drop since Sept. 30.

Stocks in Australia fell, as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index shed 1.2% and the blue-chip S&P/ASX 20 Index declined 0.9%.

New Zealand's NZX-50 closed 0.5% higher, rising for a third straight day but still wrapping up its heaviest monthly decline since October 2023. Utility and property stocks were mixed. The NZX-50 dropped 3% for the month.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures declined, with worries about the global economic outlook and rising trade tensions from the Trump administration's tariff plans prompting U.S. and global benchmark prices to post their biggest monthly losses since September.

West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery fell 0.8% to settle at $69.76 a barrel. Based on the front month, prices lost 0.9% for the week and ended 3.8% lower for the month. April Brent crude, the global benchmark, declined by 1.2% to end at $73.18 a barrel. Brent fell 1.7% for the week and 4.7% for the month.

The tense meeting between Trump and Zelensky at the White House "really just creates more uncertainty [in terms of] where we go from here," said Tariq Zahir, managing member at Tyche Capital Advisors.

Front month March gold fell 1.6% to $2,836.80 a troy ounce.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Inflation Eased. Why It Isn't a Sigh of Relief for the Fed or Consumers.

Inflation continued to moderate in January, which may give the Federal Reserve reason to lower interest rates again later this year.

But easing price pressures weren't enough to assuage shoppers, who slowed their spending last month.

The personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index, rose 2.5% over the past 12 months and was up 0.3% in the month of January, according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday.

Trump-Zelensky Meeting Implodes, Threatening Peace Talks

President Trump excoriated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, accusing him of "gambling with World War III" during a meeting Friday that was supposed to reset relations between Washington and Kyiv but devolved into a fiery clash that ended when Trump cut Zelensky's White House visit short.

The two leaders didn't sign a proposed minerals deal as they had planned and canceled a joint press conference that had been scheduled for later in the afternoon.

"He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office," Trump wrote in a social-media message. "He can come back when he is ready for Peace."

U.S. trade deficit in goods balloons to record high as businesses race to avoid tariffs

The numbers: The U.S. trade deficit in goods exploded to a record high in January as businesses raced to acquire foreign goods ahead of new tariffs.

The trade gap widened by 25.6% to a record $153.3 billion, according to the Commerce Department's advanced estimate released Friday.

President Trump has said he will raise China tariffs by another 10 percentage points next week. He has shown no sign of pulling back on threats to hit Mexico, China and other trading partners with substantial new tariffs.

Intel Delays $28 Billion Ohio Semiconductor Project

Intel said it is delaying construction of a $28 billion semiconductor project in Central Ohio by about five years.

The site in New Albany, Ohio, is now set to be completed in 2030, with operations starting as late as 2031, the chipmaker said Friday, compared with the original operations start date that was set for 2025.

A second part of the site is expected to begin operations in 2032. The company is slowing construction to manage capital and align with demand, it said, as it works to hold on to market share.

Microsoft to Close Skype, Shift Users to Teams

Skype, the Microsoft-owned service that popularized making calls over the internet, is hanging up for good.

In May, Microsoft will shut down Skype, which it bought in 2011 for $8.5 billion in what at the time was the biggest acquisition in the tech titan's history. It is encouraging Skype users to migrate to its free Teams app, it said Friday.

The demise of Skype isn't likely to have a big impact, even though in its heyday it was so widely known that its name became a verb, as in "Skype me." Once a novel technology with millions of users around the globe, Skype has long lost its luster as competing options-including Teams, as well as Zoom, Google Meet and others-gained ground.

Expected Major Events for Monday

00:00/AUS: Feb Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge

00:30/INA: Feb Indonesia Manufacturing PMI

00:30/JPN: Feb Japan Manufacturing PMI

00:30/MAL: Feb Malaysia Manufacturing PMI

00:30/PHI: Feb Philippines Manufacturing PMI

00:30/THA: Feb Thailand Manufacturing PMI

00:30/TAI: Feb Taiwan Manufacturing PMI

00:30/AUS: Feb ANZ-Indeed Job Ads

00:30/AUS: 4Q Business Indicators

01:45/CHN: Feb China Manufacturing PMI

04:00/INA: Feb CPI

05:00/JPN: Feb Auto sales

05:30/AUS: Feb Commodity Price Index

08:30/HK: Jan Retail Sales

13:00/SIN: Feb Singapore Purchasing Managers' Index $(PMI.UK)$

21:45/NZ: Jan Building Consents Issued

23:00/SKA: Jan Service Industry Activity Index

23:00/SKA: Jan Industrial Production Index

23:30/JPN: Jan Labour Force Survey

23:50/JPN: 4Q Quarterly Financial Statements Statistics of Corporations

23:50/JPN: Feb Monetary Base

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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 02, 2025 16:30 ET (21:30 GMT)

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