11:38 AM EDT, 08/29/2025 (MT Newswires) -- All three major US stock indexes were in the red in late-morning trading Friday, with the Nasdaq Composite leading the way down, as new inflation data showed still-elevated prices ahead of the Federal Reserve's critical decision on interest rates next month.

The personal consumption expenditures price index rose by 0.2% in July, as expected in a survey conducted by Bloomberg as of 7:10 a.m. ET, keeping the year-over-year rate at 2.6%. The core PCE, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge that excludes food and energy prices, rose by 0.3%, as expected and following a 0.3% rise in June. The year-over-year rate accelerated to 2.9% from 2.8% the previous month.

In company news, Alibaba Group ( BABA ) reported fiscal Q1 non-GAAP earnings Friday of 14.75 renminbi ($2.07) per diluted American depositary share, down from 16.44 renminbi a year earlier but above the FactSet consensus estimate of $14.16 renminbi. Fiscal Q1 revenue was 247.65 billion renminbi, up from 243.24 billion renminbi a year ago but below the FactSet consensus of 251.45 billion renminbi. Separately, Alibaba ( BABA ) has developed a new AI chip aimed at performing a broader range of inference tasks as Chinese cloud providers seek alternatives to Nvidia ( NVDA ) chips, which are constrained by ongoing trade tensions, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Alibaba ( BABA ) shares were up nearly 11% around midday, while those of Nvidia ( NVDA ) were down 3.1%.

Marvell Technology ( MRVL ) reported fiscal Q2 non-GAAP diluted EPS of $0.67, up from $0.30 a year earlier and matching the FactSet consensus estimate. Fiscal Q2 net revenue was $2.01 billion, up from $1.27 billion a year ago and matching the FactSet estimate. For fiscal Q3, the company expects non-GAAP EPS of $0.74, plus or minus $0.05, and net revenue of $2.06 billion, plus or minus 5%. Analysts polled by FactSet expect non-GAAP EPS of $0.72 on net revenue of $2.11 billion. Marvell ( MRVL ) shares were down about 16%.

Caterpillar ( CAT ) said late Thursday in a regulatory filing it expects the net impact from incremental tariffs to be between $500 million and $600 million in Q3 and $1.5 billion to $1.8 billion for the full year. The company said it now expects its full-year adjusted operating profit margin to be close to the bottom of the target margin range, according to the filing. Caterpillar ( CAT ) shares were down roughly 4%.

Dell Technologies ( DELL ) reported fiscal Q2 adjusted EPS late Thursday of $2.32, up from $1.95 a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus of $2.31. Fiscal Q2 revenue was $29.8 billion, up from $25 billion a year ago and above the FactSet consensus of $29 billion. For fiscal Q3, the company expects adjusted EPS of $2.45 at the midpoint on revenue of $26.5 billion to $27.5 billion. Analysts expect $2.51 adjusted EPS on revenue of $26.4 billion. For the full year, Dell expects $9.55 adjusted EPS at the midpoint on revenue of $105 billion to $109 billion. Previously, the company expected $9.40 adjusted EPS at the midpoint on revenue of $101 billion to $105 billion. Analysts expect $9.38 EPS on $105 billion in revenue. Dell shares were down 8.2%.

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