Markets News, February 28, 2025: Stocks Rise After Benign Inflation Data; Major Indexes Post February Losses

Stocks shrugged off a shaky morning and surged in afternoon trading Friday, paring their losses at the end of a bumpy February. A closely followed inflation report showed that price pressures eased last month, cheering investors to end the week.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 each gained 1.6% today, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.5%. The Dow eked out a 1% gain this week, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq shed 1% and 3.5%, respectively. All three lost ground over the month; the Nasdaq dropped 4% in February, its worst month since April 2024.

The indexes had closed sharply lower on Thursday as a sell-off in shares of Nvidia (NVDA) following the release of the AI chipmaker's earnings report sent technology stocks reeling.

The U.S. stock market has stumbled over the past week amid mounting concerns about the health of the economy and uncertainty about the impact of policies being pursued by the Trump White House. Just over a week ago the S&P 500 hit all-time highs, while the Dow and Nasdaq were near records of their own.

Investors breathed a sigh of relief this morning after the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation came in as economists had predicted. The numbers showed that inflation cooled in January for the first time in four months, which could alleviate concerns that the Fed won't be in a position to cut interest rates this year. However, President Donald Trump's plans to impose tariffs, which economists say could spark inflation in the future, remain a wild card.

The mood was briefly dampened midday when Trump and Vice President JD Vance argued with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in the Oval Office. Zelenskyy reportedly left the White House without signing a mineral rights deal that was expected to be a precursor to a ceasefire with Russia.

Nvidia shares found their footing Friday, rising about 4% after plunging more than 8% yesterday. Among other large-cap tech stocks, shares of EV maker Tesla (TSLA), which have lost more than a quarter of their value so far this year, gained about 4%. Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), and Meta Platforms (META) advanced more than 1%, while Broadcom (AVGO) ticked up just less than 1%.

Shares of Dell (DELL) slid about 5% as a soft sales outlook offset a better-than-expected earnings report from the PC and server maker, while HP (HPQ) dropped nearly 7% after issuing disappointing guidance.

Bitcoin was around $84,300 when equity markets closed, after falling as low as $78,200 overnight, its lowest level since just after the U.S. presidential election. The cryptocurrency, which hit a record high of around $109,000 last month, has given back nearly all of the gains that were sparked, in part, by optimism that a crypto-friendly Trump administration would support policies that benefit the asset class.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is correlated with expectations about where interest rates are headed and affects borrowing costs on all sorts of loans, was at 4.21%, down from 4.29% at yesterday's close.

Gold futures declined 1% to $2,867 an ounce, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 0.4% to $70.

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