Major United States benchmarks finished higher on Friday, capping off a turbulent February for the stock market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 601.4 points, or 1.4%, to settle at 43,840.9, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.6% to finish at 18,847.3.
Despite Friday’s rebound, February proved to be a challenging month for equities. The Nasdaq dropped 4% for the month, marking its worst performance since April 2024, driven by a 3.5% weekly decline. The S&P 500 slipped 1% over the week and ended February down 1.4%, while the Dow managed a 1% gain for the week but fell 1.6% for the month.
Markets briefly turned negative during Friday’s session following a heated exchange between U.S. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
The dispute, centred around a potential U.S.-Ukraine mineral rights deal, heightened geopolitical concerns, sending the CBOE Volatility Index to a session high of 22.4 - its highest level since January 27.
In addition to geopolitical risks, investors faced renewed uncertainty from Trump’s tariff proposals and mixed economic data. Nvidia’s 8.5% slump on Thursday, following its quarterly earnings report, also weighed on sentiment.
Economic reports released Friday showed that inflation remained sticky. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose 0.3% in January, in line with expectations, after an unrevised 0.3% increase in December.
On an annual basis, prices climbed 2.5%, slightly easing from 2.6% in December. Core PCE inflation, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.3% month-over-month and 2.6% year-over-year.
On the bond markets, yields moved lower, with the 10-year Treasury yield falling 1.5% to 4.203%, while the 2-year yield declined 1.6% to 3.987%.
