Weekly Market Commentary

Market Recap Powered by: YCharts

Week of Mar. 10 through Mar. 14, 2025

The S&P 500 index fell 3.3% this week, extending losses for the year amid concerns about the expanding global trade war and a bigger-than-expected drop in consumer sentiment.

The S&P 500 ended Friday's session at 5578.1, marking its fourth consecutive down week. The index has dropped 5.2% from where it ended 2024 and is now down 6.3% in March.

Investors remain concerned about the outcome of an ongoing tariff war between the US and several of its trading partners. Canada, the largest importer of US goods, imposed 25% retaliatory tariffs on more than $20 billion of US products and the European Union said it will impose counter-tariffs on up to 26 billion euros ($28.35 billion) worth of US goods starting next month.

US President Donald Trump earlier this week put 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The European Union retaliated with levies of its own, including those on some US alcoholic beverages. Trump then said he will impose a 200% levy on all alcohol products coming from the EU if the bloc didn't rescind its tariffs on US alcohol.

Inflation in the US was slightly cooler than expected in February with the consumer price index rising 0.2% from the previous month and 2.8% year over year. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg predicted increases of 0.3% and 2.9%, respectively.

The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index fell to 57.9 in March from 64.7 in February, compared with expectations for a much smaller decrease to 63.0 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The drop came as respondents raised their inflation expectations.

All but the energy and utilities sectors of the S&P 500 fell this week. Consumer staples had the largest percentage drop, sliding 4.3%, followed by a 3.7% decline in consumer discretionary, a 3.5% loss in communication services and a 3% decrease in health care.

Estee Lauder (EL) was hit hardest in the consumer staples sector, falling 9.3%. Adobe (ADBE) said the beauty care company is using its generative artificial intelligence platform Firefly in digital market campaigns.

In consumer discretionary, shares of Dominos Pizza (DPZ) fell 9.8%. A regulatory filing showed Chief Financial Officer Sandeep Reddy sold 1,077 shares in the company for $477,326 on March 10.

Among communication services stocks, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) fell 8%. The company is partnering with Coupang Play to offer exclusive HBO and HBO Max original content on the South Korean video streaming service starting March 21.

DexCom (DXCM) was the biggest percentage decliner in health care, falling 9.2% after it received a notice from the US Food & Drug Administration last week regarding manufacturing and quality management non-conformities found during inspections at its Mesa, Arizona, and San Diego, California, facilities.

In energy, EQT (EQT) was up 7.9% as its Active Core Infrastructure fund agreed to buy Crown Castle's (CCI) small cells solutions business for $4.25 billion. On Monday, the company priced a tender offer to buy up to $750 million of outstanding 3.9% senior notes due 2027.

AES (AES) was the top performer in the utilities sector, gaining 9.4%. The company priced $800 million of 5.8% senior notes due 2032 and plans to use the proceeds to fund repurchases of its 3.3% senior notes due 2025 in a tender offer.

Next week, earnings reports are expected from companies including Accenture (ACN), Nike (NKE), Micron Technology (MU) and PDD Holdings (PDD).

Economic data will include February retail sales, industrial production, the Federal Open Market Committee's interest-rate decision and existing home sales.

Provided by MT Newswires.