U.S. stocks traded lower midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index falling more than 500 points on Friday.

The Dow traded down 1.21% to 41,788.66 while the NASDAQ fell 2.11% to 17,424.77. The S&P 500 also fell, dropping, 1.49% to 5,608.74.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares jumped by 1.2% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, consumer discretionary shares fell by 2.8%.

Top Headline

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge rose more than anticipated in February, underscoring the bumpy road back to the 2% target and throwing cold water on expectations for imminent interest rate cuts.

According to data released Friday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index increased by 2.5% year-over-year, matching both the previous reading and economist forecasts of 2.5%. On a monthly basis, headline PCE rose 0.3%, in line with estimates.

Equities Trading UP

Portage Biotech Inc. ( PRTG ) shares shot up 126% to $10.67 after the company reported new data for PORT-7 at the 2025 European Lung Cancer Congress.

Shares of Abacus Global Management, Inc. ( ABL )  got a boost, surging 13% to $8.11 following strong quarterly sales.

DBV Technologies S.A. ( DBVT ) shares were also up, gaining 48% to $6.00 after the company announced up to $307 million in financing to advance the Viaskin Peanut program.

Equities Trading DOWN

Milestone Pharmaceuticals Inc. ( MIST ) shares dropped 62% to $0.8550 after the company received a letter from the FDA for its new drug application for CARDAMYST nasal spray.

Shares of XTI Aerospace, Inc. ( XTIA ) were down 48% to $1.29 after the company priced its public offering at $1.36 per share.

AAR Corp. ( AIR ) was down, falling 16% to $57.37 after the company reported a third-quarter sales miss.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.2% to $69.76 while gold traded up 0.7% at $3,112.20.

Silver traded up 0.7% to $35.340 on Friday, while copper rose 0.7% to $5.1545.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 declined 0.3%, Germany's DAX 40 fell 0.5% and France's CAC 40 declined 0.6%. Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 0.5%, while London's FTSE 100 rose 0.1%.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 falling 1.80%, China's Shanghai Composite Index declining 0.67%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipping 0.65% and India's BSE Sensex falling 0.25%.

Economics

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index increased by 2.5% year-over-year, matching both the previous reading and economist forecasts of 2.5%. On a monthly basis, headline PCE rose 0.3%, in line with estimates.

Personal spending rose 0.4% month-over-month in February after a 0.3% contraction in January, but missing expectations for a 0.5% increase.

Personal income growth accelerated to 0.8%, above January’s 0.7% and well beyond the 0.4% estimate.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment fell to 57 in March versus a preliminary reading of 57.9.

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