Feb. 21 (UPI) — Major stock indexes suffered their worst losses of the year Friday amid concerns among consumers and businesses that President Donald Trump’s policies may be hurting the U.S. economy.
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped around 1.7%, their worst one-day declines since Dec. 18, according to closing prices. Nasdaq composite dropped 2.2% with the biggest slide 3.1% on Jan. 27.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 748.69 points, or 1.69% to close at 43,428.02, behind the record 45,014 on Dec. 4 with the 2025 high 44,882.13 on Jan. 30. The index dropped about 500 points the day before.
For the week, the DJIA’s weekly drop of 1,118.06 was the most since October, before Trump was elected president, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The largest single-day loss in points was 2,997 points, or 12.9%, on March 16, 2020, when the index was 20,188.52 during the coronavirus pandemic.
The S&P 500 tumbled 104.39, or 1.71%, to end at 6,013.13.
The Nasdaq composite sunk 438.36, finishing at 19,524.01.
On Election Day on Nov. 5, DJIA was at 42,221,88, S&P 500 at 5,782.76 and nasdaq at 18,439.17.
The losses were triggered by bad economic news and consumer sentiment.
The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 64.7 in February, a decline of nearly 10% and a steeper drop than expected as consumers raised concerns about higher inflation ahead of possible new tariffs.
The five-year inflation outlook in the survey was 3.5%, which is the highest since 1995.
Existing home sales in the United States fell more than predicted last month to 4.08 million units.
“It’s definitely a period where I think the best gains have been had and [it] wouldn’t surprise me to see a significant correction,” investor Steve Cohen said in a report by CNBC.
He noted that proposed tariffs will hurt the economy and the U.S. government’s cost-cutting efforts are a drag on the economy.
Walmart shares lost for the second day in a row, including 25% Friday, as the retail powerhouse issued weaker-than-expected forecast.
Nvidia and Palantir saw steep losses on Friday as traders shifted toward traditionally safer assets.
Food companies rise. Procter & Gamble climbed 1.8%, while General Mills and Kraft Heinz each rose more than 3% each.
“The top 20 performers in the S&P 500 today are all from defensive sectors: consumer staples, utilities and healthcare,” said Larry Tentarelli, chief technical strategist and founder of the Blue Chip Daily Trend Report, said. “Investors often rotate into these so-called defensive sectors when economic growth concerns appear.”
In the bond market, trading in 30-day fed funds futures contracts Friday suggests roughly 55% odds that the Federal Reserve will cut rates two to three times this year to a range of 3.50% to 3.75% from 4.25% to 4.50% Friday. The next fed meetings are March 18 and 19.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for Aprtil declined to $70.25 per barrel or 2.23%.
The gold COMEX for April dropped 6.5% to $2,949.6 an ounce.
