US Markets Sink on Surprise Inflation Report

By
Bill McColl
Bill McColl
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Bill McColl has 25+ years of experience as a senior producer and writer for TV, radio, and digital media leading teams of anchors, reporters, and editors in creating news broadcasts, covering some of the most notable news stories of the time.

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Published February 24, 2023
Table showing the performance of major U.S. financial indexes on Feb. 24, 2023

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Key Takeaways

  • U.S. equities indexes declined on Feb. 24, 2023, after one of the Fed's preferred gauges showed inflation at a higher-than-expected level.
  • Declines in rate-sensitive tech stocks sent the Nasdaq down nearly 1.7%, while the S&P 500 and the Dow also closed more than 1% lower on Friday.
  • The session concluded a week of losses that saw the Dow and the Nasdaq fall around 3%, with the S&P 500 closing the week about 2.7% lower.

U.S. equities ended the day and the week lower as the inflation report favored by the Fed to determine monetary policy showed a bigger-than-expected increase last month. This raised fears that policymakers will need to be more aggressive in hiking interest rates to bring down prices. The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq lost 1%. For the week, the Dow and Nasdaq were down about 3%, and the S&P 500 dipped 2.7%. 

Friday's selloff was broad-based, led by the tech sector, which is especially sensitive to higher borrowing costs. Shares of widely held tech stocks including Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Tesla (TSLA) slumped. Boeing (BA) was the worst-performing stock in the Dow after the plane maker temporarily stopped deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner while it looked into an issue with the jet's fuselage.

Autodesk (ADSK) shares plunged after the design software maker posted weaker-than-anticipated guidance. Shares of another software company, Adobe (ADBE), tumbled on a report that the Department of Justice plans to file a lawsuit to prevent its $20 billion purchase of web design platform Figma. Carvana (CVNA) shares cratered after the online car retailer had a much greater loss than estimated. Shares of cruise lines sank.

$1 Trillion Market Cap

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) shares gained after Morgan Stanley said that the bank could have a $1 trillion market capitalization by 2030. Shares of Edison International (EIX) were higher as the utility exceeded profit and sales forecasts. Intuit (INTU) shares rose after the maker of TurboTax also beat earnings and revenue predictions. Shares of Celanese (CE) moved up as UBS raised its price target on the stock. 

The inflation news boosted the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. Oil futures climbed for a second straight day. Gold prices fell. The U.S. dollar advanced against the euro, pound, and yen. Major cryptocurrencies traded down.

Table showing the S&P 500 stocks with the biggest gains and losses on Feb. 24, 2023

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