Stock Market News Today: Wall Street Sees Drop Amid Fears of High Prices

Wall Street's main stock markets went down on Friday because people are worried about prices staying high, which might change when the government decides to change interest rates. This worry shook up stocks that are sensitive to interest rates before the government's meeting next week.

On Thursday, the market went down after the government released data showing that prices for things that companies make were higher than expected. This made people worry more about prices going up and caused the interest rate for borrowing money for ten years to hit a high point not seen in two weeks.

Traders were betting that the government would cut interest rates in June, but now fewer of them think that will happen. Last week, about 73% of traders were betting on a rate cut, but now only about 57% think it will happen. This information comes from a tool called the CME FedWatch Tool.

Now, everyone is waiting to see what the government will decide at its meeting next week. They want to know if the government will change interest rates and when it might do that.

Russell Hackmann, who works at Hackmann Wealth Partners, said that people are really interested in what the government will say about interest rates and how it will affect future decisions.

More bad news came when data showed that factories in the U.S. made more stuff in February than expected, but the data from the month before was changed to show that factories weren't doing as well as people thought. This means that factories are still having a hard time because interest rates are high.

A report from the University of Michigan showed that people aren't feeling as good about the economy this month as they were expected to.

Friday was also the day when contracts for certain kinds of investments ended at the same time. This is called "triple witching."

At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 149.00 points, the S&P 500 dropped 33.83 points, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 141.76 points.

Most sectors of the S&P 500 were trading lower, with information technology experiencing the most significant decline, down 1.4%. Several megacap growth stocks, including Microsoft and Nvidia, faced downward pressure.

Semiconductor stocks, after enjoying a three-week winning streak, were down 0.8%, with investors closely monitoring the upcoming global GTC developer conference for AI-related announcements.

Micron Technology, however, saw a 1.9% rise after brokerage Citi raised its price target on the company, marking the highest target on Wall Street for the chipmaker.

Conversely, Adobe shares tumbled 13.7% after forecasting second-quarter revenue below analysts' expectations due to increased competition and weak demand for its AI-integrated products.

Ulta Beauty also experienced a 6.7% decline after projecting full-year profit below Wall Street estimates, citing elevated supply-chain costs and intensified promotional activities.

Amid earnings season, approximately 76.1% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported quarterly earnings thus far have surpassed analyst expectations.

On the NYSE, advancing issues slightly outnumbered decliners, while on the Nasdaq, decliners slightly outpaced advancers. The S&P index recorded 14 new 52-week highs, while the Nasdaq recorded 24 new highs and 71 new lows.

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