Friday marked another rough session for the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ), as both ETFs closed in negative territory for the third consecutive day.
Meet Samuel – Your Personal Investing Prophet
- Start a conversation with TipRanks’ trusted, data-backed investment intelligence
- Ask Samuel about stocks, your portfolio, or the market and get instant, personalized insights in seconds
News That Moved the Stock Market Today
- The Bureau of Economic Analysis halved its second estimate of fourth-quarter GDP growth to an annualized rate of 0.7% and revised consumer and government spending lower.
- The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index rose by 2.8% year-over-year in January. Core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, was 3.1% and increased from 3.0%. Both data points were delayed by the government shutdown.
- The preliminary Index of Consumer Sentiment for March dropped to a year-to-date low of 55.5 as respondents expressed concern about the U.S.-Iran war and rising gas prices.
- Amazon (AMZN) announced that its ad-free Prime Video subscription will convert to Prime Video Ultra in the U.S. starting at $4.99 per month.
- Adobe (ADBE) fell by over 6% on news that its CEO, Shantanu Narayen, would step down after the company finds a successor.
- Ulta (ULTA) plunged after providing weak EPS and same store sales guidance for 2026.
Today’s Best-Performing Sector
Utilities was the best-performing sector on Friday as investors rotated into defensive and stable stocks amid broader market uncertainty. Utility stocks provide essential services and often come with dividends, making them appealing when growth sectors lag. Furthermore, regulated utility companies are able to pass on higher energy costs to customers, resulting in a steady stream of income.
Several utility stocks led the sector’s gains, including:
- Sempra (SRE)
- Wisconsin Energy (WEC)
- Ameren (AEE)
- Alliant Energy (LNT)
- Public Service Enterprise Group (PEG)
Today’s Worst-Performing Sector
Meanwhile, information technology was the worst-performing sector, driven by significant declines in large tech firms like Adobe (ADBE) and Broadcom (AVGO). In addition, software companies continue to face pressure from the threat of AI intensifying competition and lowering sales. Semiconductor stocks, which are viewed as cyclical, also faced weakness over inflation and valuation concerns.
Notable information technology stocks trading lower include: