Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq tumble after jobs report, with Powell on deck

US stocks tumbled on Friday as Wall Street assessed the crucial monthly jobs report amid market uncertainty driven by President Trump's volatile trade policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was down roughly 0.6% after flipping between positive and negative territory. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped 0.9%, with the broad-based index on pace for its worst week of the year. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell over 1.2% after closing in correction territory on Thursday.

US nonfarm-payrolls showed an added 151,000 jobs last month, slightly less than the 160,000 expected by economists, while the unemployment rate ticked up from 4% to 4.1%. The stakes were high for February's job report as stocks flounder amid fears of weakening economic growth. Downbeat economic data has boosted bets on interest rate cuts this year.

Markets are now looking to Chair Jerome Powell to throw some light on the Federal Reserve's thinking on Trump's tariffs and the risk of stagflation when he speaks on Friday. His comments will be among the last from Fed officials before their March 18-19 policy meeting.

Trade-war worries are still keeping markets on edge. Trump paused tariffs on most goods from Mexico and Canada. Canada responded with a matching delay in its second wave of retaliatory duties, while Mexico has yet to directly react.

Read more: Trump pauses tariffs on most imports from Mexico, Canada

On the earnings front, Broadcom's stock (AVGO) tipped higher in early trading after the US chipmaker issued a strong second quarter forecast, seen as a positive sign for AI demand.

Nvidia market cap shrinks by $1 trillion from record high

Nvidia (NVDA) has shed roughly $1 trillion in market cap since shares of the AI chip giant hit a record closing high in early January.

On Friday, the stock slipped more than 2% as selling on Wall Street intensified.

Shares of the AI darling hit a record close of $149.43 on Jan. 6. On Friday, they traded near $107 as the company's market cap stood at $2.6 trillion.

Nvidia stock took a hit in late January after Chinese startup DeepSeek released an AI chatbot model, calling into question the lofty valuations of US chi makers.

Tesla stock wipes out nearly all post-election gains

Tesla (TSLA) stock slipped more than 3% on Friday and is on pace to lose nearly all of its post-election gains on Friday.

Shares of the electric vehicle giant hovered near $255 each, just shy of their closing price of $251.44 on Nov. 5, 2024. The stock ripped higher on Election Day in anticipation of the presidential election results later that evening.

Tesla was an early "Trump trade" winner as investors assumed CEO Elon Musk's close relationship with the newly elected president would benefit the stock.

But as Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal recently pointed out, market euphoria has all but evaporated. Trump's tariff war escalation has sparked fears of slow economic growth while, at the same time, inflation remains stubbornly elevated.

Stocks pull back after monthly jobs report and rise in unemployment to 4.1%

The major averages edged slightly lower on Friday following the release of a closely watched monthly jobs report awaited comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.4%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) dropped after closing in correction territory on Thursday.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released before the opening bell showed 151,000 new jobs were created in February, less than the 160,000 expected by economists. The unemployment rate jumped slightly from 4% to 4.1%.

Investors may receive some clues about how policymakers view the economy when Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks on Friday at an economic conference.

Friday's stock market movement caps a volatile week as investors assess the economic impact of the Trump administration's efforts to trim government agencies and implement tariffs on imports.

On Thursday, President Trump announced additional goods and services from Mexico would be temporarily exempt from 25% levies imposed earlier in the week. The White House later said some Canadian imports would also receive an exemption until April 2.

This follows a one-month relief from tariffs for the Big Three US automakers announced on Wednesday.

It's retailers' turn to be 'resilient': Morning Brief

In recent weeks, retailers Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Best Buy (BBY), and, most recently, Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) have spooked investors after they warned about profit pressures and price hikes resulting from tariffs.

Yahoo Finance's Hamza Shaban writes in the Morning Brief:

After years of the "resilient consumer," a cooling economy redefined by tariffs will test the wherewithal of American retailers.

In a suite of earnings this week, executives offered an early glimpse of commercial life in a new, high-tariff era. While exposure to the levies differs by sector and brand, a key theme emerged from this season's commentary: As tariff news changes by the minute, retailers are having an all-hands-on-deck moment to deal with whatever comes. A whatever that feels like it could be anything.

The backdrop for all of this is the idea of the resilient consumer. Americans dutifully swiped their cards for years, powering the economy through the COVID slump and through — and contributing to — historic levels of inflation. Until a Fed campaign of high rates finally pushed pent-up demand into more "choiceful" spending, as one Goldman analyst creatively put it.

Managers are having to decide whether to eat the price increases, thereby hitting corporate profits, or roll the dice and pass the tariff costs on to consumers, further testing their resiliency. But Americans, worn down by higher costs, are primed to reject another cycle of post-COVID price shocks.

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