U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index falling more than 500 points on Friday.
The Dow traded down 1.21% to 41,788.66 while the NASDAQ fell 2.11% to 17,424.77. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 1.49% to 5,608.74.
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Leading and Lagging Sectors
Utilities shares jumped by 1.2% on Friday.
In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares fell by 2.8%.
Top Headline
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose more than anticipated in February, underscoring the bumpy road back to the 2% target and throwing cold water on expectations for imminent interest rate cuts.
According to data released Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index increased by 2.5% year-over-year, matching both the previous reading and economist forecasts of 2.5%. On a monthly basis, headline PCE rose 0.3%, in line with estimates.
Equities Trading UP
Equities Trading DOWN
Commodities
In commodity news, oil traded down 0.2% to $69.76 while gold traded up 0.7% at $3,112.20.
Silver traded up 0.7% to $35.340 on Friday, while copper rose 0.7% to $5.1545.
Euro zone
European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.3%, Germany's DAX 40 fell 0.5% and France's CAC 40 declined 0.6%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.5%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.1%.
Asia Pacific Markets
Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 1.80%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.67%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipping 0.65% and India's BSE Sensex falling 0.25%.
Economics
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