U.S. equities closed sharply lower on Friday as investors reacted to stronger-than-expected wholesale inflation data and renewed concerns over artificial intelligence-driven disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/strong> fell roughly 1%<\/strong>, shedding more than 500 points<\/strong>. The Nasdaq Composite<\/strong> declined 0.8%<\/strong>, while the S&P 500<\/strong> slipped 0.4%<\/strong>, extending recent volatility in technology-heavy segments of the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the session\u2019s losses, the Dow narrowly preserved a positive return for February, rising 0.17%<\/strong> for the month and maintaining a nine-month winning streak. By contrast, the Nasdaq dropped more than 3.3%<\/strong> in February, and the S&P 500 declined about 0.86%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the macroeconomic front, January\u2019s Producer Price Index (PPI)<\/strong> rose 0.5%<\/strong> month over month, exceeding economists\u2019 expectations for a 0.3% gain. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.8%<\/strong>, significantly above forecasts of 0.3%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hotter inflation reading raised concerns that price pressures may persist longer than anticipated, potentially influencing Federal Reserve policy expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Investor unease was amplified by corporate developments. Block<\/strong> announced plans to cut nearly half of its workforce, with CEO Jack Dorsey<\/strong> attributing the move to productivity gains from AI tools. The announcement heightened concerns about broader employment and business-model disruptions linked to artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the same time, worries about strains in private credit markets added to risk aversion across sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In merger news, Netflix<\/strong> shares gained after stepping back from a pursuit of Warner Bros. Discovery<\/strong>, clearing the path for Paramount Skydance<\/strong>, backed by Oracle<\/strong>, to advance its acquisition efforts. Paramount\u2019s stock rose on the development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking ahead, Berkshire Hathaway<\/strong> CEO Greg Abel<\/strong> is scheduled to release his first annual shareholder letter, alongside the conglomerate\u2019s quarterly and full-year 2025 update. The release marks a transition following the leadership era of Warren Buffett<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dow Slides Over 500 Points U.S. equities closed sharply lower on Friday as investors reacted to stronger-than-expected wholesale inflation data and renewed concerns over artificial intelligence-driven disruption. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell roughly 1%, shedding more than 500 points. The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.8%, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.4%, extending recent volatility in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10772,"featured_media":13494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3631,3626,3624,3625,3628,3629,3630,3627,3622,3623],"class_list":{"0":"post-13493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-finance","8":"tag-berkshire-hathaway-greg-abel-letter","9":"tag-block-ai-layoffs-impact-market","10":"tag-core-ppi-inflation-surprise","11":"tag-dow-jones-500-point-drop","12":"tag-nasdaq-sp-500-february-performance","13":"tag-netflix-warner-bros-discovery-deal","14":"tag-paramount-skydance-acquisition-news","15":"tag-private-credit-market-concerns","16":"tag-producer-price-index-january-2026","17":"tag-u-s-stock-market-decline-friday"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13495,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13493\/revisions\/13495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetimesfinancial.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Inflation Surprise Pressures Sentiment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
AI Disruption Back in Focus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Deal Activity and What\u2019s Ahead<\/h2>\n\n\n\n