A choppy week ended with most stock indexes closing in the red despite a rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). The DJIA rose 0.95% to cap off its only weekly gain, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite lost 0.97% and 3.47%, respectively. Tariff worries, combined with a four-year low Consumer Confidence index reading, weakened investor confidence.
The technology sector fell for the second week in a row as tariff threats escalated again. The year-to-date performance of the tech benchmarks remains negative, while the DJIA and S&P 500 have seen gains.
Broadly speaking, companies that exceeded earnings estimates saw their shares rewarded less than usual by the markets, whereas those that missed estimates were punished harder. Most market attention was focused on corporate guidance amid economic uncertainty and elevated valuations.
Several stocks made news this week, including Nvidia (NVDA), which closed with a sharp loss despite beating revenue estimates, while Dell Technologies (DELL) saw its stock slump due to soft Q1 2025 outlook and potential impact of Trump administration tariffs. Super Micro Computer (SMCI) tumbled by over 23% amidst risk-off sentiment, but remains the S&P 500’s best performer in February.
The Q4 2024 earnings season is nearly over, with several notable releases scheduled for this week, including Broadcom’s quarterly results and reports from AutoZone, Ross Stores, Marvell, Veeva Systems, Zscaler, MongoDB, Costco, Kroger Company, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Ex-dividend dates are also coming this week for various dividend-paying firms.
Source: https://www.tipranks.com/news/the-week-that-was-the-week-ahead-macro-markets-march-2-2025