Both the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and the Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) closed higher on Friday ahead of a three-day weekend for the stock market in honor of Presidents’ Day. The market will reopen on Tuesday, February 17.
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New trading tool for QQQ bullsInvestors received an encouraging inflation update after the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that January’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.2% from the prior month, undercutting the consensus estimate of 0.3%. CPI rose by 2.4% year-over-year, also below the expectation of 2.5% and registering the slowest pace of growth since May 2025. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased by 0.3% month-over-month and 2.5% year-over-year, both of which were in line with the estimates.
Falling inflation supports the case for the Fed to lower interest rates. While the odds of a 25 bps rate cut at the March 18 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting remain low, the same odds at the next meeting on April 29 have risen to 26.4% from 23.9% a day ago on the CME FedWatch tool.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon published a document showing the addition of Alibaba (BABA), Baidu (BIDU), BYD (BYDDY), and several other Chinese companies to the Section 1260H list this morning. The list identifies firms that the Pentagon believes are associated with the Chinese military. However, the Pentagon took down the document about an hour later, with some speculating that the U.S. sought to ease tensions with Beijing ahead of the Trump-Xi summit in April.
“An agency letter requesting withdrawal of this document was received after placement on public inspection,” wrote the Federal Register in an editorial note without providing additional details.
Elsewhere, the Trump administration is reportedly planning on easing tariffs on some aluminum and steel imports. President Trump imposed a 50% tariff on imports of the two metals last June. Since then, aluminum prices have surged 20%, while steel has climbed about 4%, adding to affordability concerns across the U.S.
However, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro denied that the U.S. would lower the tariffs, saying that Trump would maintain a “no exemptions, no exclusions” policy. Furthermore, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that “If anything is done, I think it would be some sort of clarification on some incidental objects, but again, that’s going to be the president’s decision.”
The S&P 500 (SPX) closed with a 0.05% gain, while the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) returned 0.18%.