The good news for stock investors this past week is that shares went up.
Maybe not a lot, but the buying was welcome. Gains ranged from 0.3% for the Nasdaq-100 Index to 1.2% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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Stocks even survived a brutal sell-off on Friday. The Dow fell more than 519 points in the first half of trading before a rebound took hold. At the close, the index was up 32 points at 41,985.
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The S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq-100 indexes also ended the day in the black and even ended the week in the black after four weeks of losses,
The Federal Reserve seemed to calm Wall Street by leaving interest rates unchanged on Wednesday. And Chairman Jerome Powell said the economy is stable and not vulnerable to inflation shocks.
Tesla (TSLA) rebounded from deep selling in recent weeks to end Friday up 5.3% at $248.71, the second-biggest percentage gain among S&P 500 stocks. Still, the shares are down 38% for the year and 50% from their 52-week high on Dec. 18.
Palantir Technologies (PLTR) added 4.1% to $90.96, the third-best S&P 500 performer.
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Even Boeing (BA) got into the act. It won a huge contract to build a new fighter jet for the force and rose 3.15% to $175.11, tops among the Dow stocks. For the week, the trouble aerospace giant was up 10%
Tariffs are the wild card
But a big unknown that was at play last week is still basically unknown.
Tariffs.
And tariffs may put a lid on stocks in the week ahead.
The Trump Administration expects to announce on April 2 tariffs against a host of trading partners in a bid, as it tries to equalize the relationships.
The details are not yet clear in part because the administration team trying to determine the plan still seems to be working out the details.
There’s been talk the tariffs might be imposed on “trillions of dollars of goods.” It’s not clear if “trillions of dollars” means wine, cars, computers, cheese, electrical generation equipment or sheep.
Some companies, including Walmart (WMT) , Costco Wholesale (COST) , Home Depot (HD) and Target (TGT) have been trying to negotiate discounts with foreign suppliers. If the talks fail, they may have to look for new sources. Or just pay the price.
The market stalls compared with 2024
All of this uncertainty comes as stocks haven’t gone anywhere in 2025. The S&P 500 is off 3.6% on the this year. The Nasdaq is down 7.9%. The Dow has slipped 1.3%, and the Nasdaq-100 Index is down 6%.
At this time a year ago, the S&P 500 was already up 9.74%, and the Nasdaq 9.44%. The Dow was up 4.74%.
But the damage this year is actually concentrated. Of the 11 S&P 500 sectors, only three are down for the year, but they’re the big ones:
Consumer Discretionary stocks, dominated by Amazon.com (AMZN) and Tesla. Down nearly 14%.Information Technology, including Apple (AAPL) , Nvidia (NVDA) , Microsoft (MSFT) and Palantir. Down 9.5%.Communications Services, which include Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) and Facebook-parent Meta Platforms (META) . Down 3.5%.
More Economic Analysis:
Retail sales add new complication to Fed rate cut forecastsCPI inflation surprise resets tariff talkDoes Friday’s big rally mean the worst is over?
The distress is broadening
People and businesses are starting to pull back.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) , Southwest Airlines (LUV) surprised by announcing they’ve been seeing signs of slowing business in 2025 because of the economy. Of 261 companies that have issued guidance so far, 59% have offered reduced earnings estimates.
Lennar Corp. (LEN) , the big Florida based builder, is having to spend the equivalent of 13% of the price of a new home to bring mortgage payments to affordable levels for new buyers.
“At the very least, housing will not be contributing to inflationary pressures,” Lennar chairman and do-CEO Stuart Miller said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.
Lennar shares ended Friday at $115.22, down 12.5% far this year and down 20% from the end of 2023.
Travelers in the Delta Airlines check-in area at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in November 2024.
A quiet week ahead with troubling signals
The week ahead looks fairly quiet, but it does include five members of the S&P 500:
McCormick & Co. (MKC) , the spice merchant, due before Tuesday’s open. Cintas Corp. (CTAS) , which supplies corporate uniforms, before Wednesday’s open.Payroll processor Paychex (PAYX) , before Wednesday’s open.Discount retailer Dollar Tree (DLTR) , before Wednesday’s.Athletic apparel retailer Lululemon Athletica (LULU) , after Thursday’s close.
Lululemon is expected to report earnings of $5.65 a share, up nearly 11% from a year ago, with revenue at $3.52 billion, up 9.83%. The shares peaked at $423.32 on Jan. 30% and have fallen 23,4% since.
Jefferies analyst Randal Konik has a sell rating on the stock. He told Barrons the company’s inventory levels are too high in a soft economy.
In December, Dollar Tree appointed its third CEO in a bit more than two years. Its core lower-income shoppers have been pressured by inflation, leaving them less money to spend on the nonessential goods that drive margin growth at dollar stores. Walmart’s competition is intense.
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