Stock Market News for Mar 13, 2025

Wall Street closed mixed on Wednesday, primarily pulled up by tech stocks. Markets got relief from inflation data released on the day that came in cooler-than-expected. Two of the three most widely followed indexes closed the session in the red, while one ended in green.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.2%, or 82.55 points, to close at 41,350.93. Nineteen components of the 30-stock index ended in negative territory, while 11 ended in positive.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 212.36 points, or 1.2%, to close at 17,648.45.

The S&P 500 advanced 27.23 points, or 0.5%, to close at 5,599.30. Six of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the red. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP), the Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) and the Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) lost 2.2, 1% and 0.5%, respectively, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) rose 1.6%.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 10% to 24.23. A total of 16.14 billion shares were traded on Wednesday, lower than the last 20-session average of 16.59 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners by a 1.15-to-1 ratio on the NYSE.

Consumer Prices Come in Better, Tariff Policy Ails

The Department of Labor reported on Wednesday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis in February after rising 0.5% in January. The index for all items less food and energy, rose 0.2% in February, following a 0.4% increase in January.

These numbers are much cooler than expected, especially in the backdrop of the tariff war being currently waged by the Trump White House. As a result, markets rebounded from the broad-based selloff it has been witnessing in recent sessions.

However, some of these gains were pared off as President Trump threatened on Wednesday to escalate a global trade war with further tariffs on goods from the European Union. The President said he would impose more penalties if the EU carries out its plan to enact reciprocal tariffs on U.S. goods. "Whatever they charge us, we're charging them," Trump told reporters.

While this may be interpreted as a strongman move to arm-wrestle reciprocal tariffs, the markets continue to show weariness about the Trump administration’s repeated announcements and backtracking on tariffs. Uncertainty around the U.S. trade policy has been the single most important factor causing mayhem in Wall Street in recent sessions. Wednesday was no different, and the full effect of inflation slowing down on the markets, thus, was not realized. Yet, the tech sector corrected a bit and carried the markets along with it.

Consequently, shares of NVIDIA Corporation NVDA and Broadcom Inc. AVGO added 6.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Both currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Oil Prices Rise on Tightening of U.S. Supply

Per a government report, for the week ended March 7, 2025, U.S. commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) increased by 1.4 million barrels from the previous week. In the prior week, they had grown by 3.6 million barrels. These tighter-than-expected oil and fuel inventory numbers led to a 2% rise in global oil prices. However, investors remained concerned about an economic slowdown in the United States and the impact of tariffs on global economic growth.

Brent crude ended $1.39, or 2%, higher at $70.95/barrel. WTI crude gained $1.43, or 2.2%, to $67.68/ barrel.

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