Stock Market Today: Stocks slide on growth worries with jobs data, tariffs in focus

U.S. stocks tuned lower in early Monday trading amid a big retreat for the dollar and a nudge lower in Treasury bond yields, as investors looked to a busy week of tariff headlines and economic data that could add further downside pressure to the market’s recent slump.

Updated at 11:36 AM EST

Intel boost

Intel  (INTC)  shares were a standout earlier gainer on the Nasdaq, rising 3.1% on the session to extend their year-to-date advance past 20%, following a Reuters report that suggested Broadcom  (AVGO)  and Nvidia  (NVDA)  are testing the chipmakers 18A production platform. 

The move could raise the prospect of new agreements for Intel’s contract manufacturing division and boost the value of the planned spin-off of its Intel Foundry Services business. 

Related: Intel stocks leaps on report tied to Nvidia and Broadcom

Updated at 10:07 AM EST

Muted outlook

The Institute for Supply Management’s  benchmark manufacturing activity survey slumped lower in February, holding just barely above the 50-point level that separates growth from contraction, providing more evidence of economic weakness heading into the depths of the first quarter.

The ISM’s headline index fell to 50.3 from 50.9, with new orders tumbling more than 6 points to 48.6 points, for the biggest one-month decline in nearly three years. The prices paid component, meanwhile, surged more than 7 points to 62.4 points, well ahead of the Street’s 55.8 point forecast. 

Stocks turned lower following the data release, with the S&P 500 marked 22 points, or 0.37% lower and the Nasdaq giving back its earlier gains to fall 129 points, or 0.68%

Benchmark 2-year Treasury note yields were last see 2 basis points lower at 4.001% while 10-year notes eased to $4.208%.

⚠️BREAKING:
*U.S. FEBRUARY ISM MANUFACTURING PMI SURVEY FALLS TO 50.3; EST. 50.6; PREV. 50.9
🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/CPxKINFCqE

— Investing.com (@Investingcom) March 3, 2025

Updated at 9:38 AM EST

Solid open

The S&P 500 was marked 23 points, or 0.41%, while the Nasdaq rose 88 points, or 0.47%. 

The Dow gained 118 points and the mid-cap Russell 2000 rose 9 points, or 0.41%.

S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (Mar. 03, 2025)$SPY +0.51% 🟩$QQQ +0.95% 🟩$DJI +0.30% 🟩 $IWM +0.58% 🟩 pic.twitter.com/NVo53qDmUu

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) March 3, 2025

Updated at 8:35 AM EST

More Nvidia red

Nvidia  (NVDA)  shares edged lower in early trading, following on from a modest February gain, as investors look for renewed market leadership from the AI chipmaker heading into its global developers’ conference later this month. 

“Given that Nvidia had top and bottom beats and good guidance, its (post-earnings decline) is a valuation issue, not an earnings one,” said Louis Navellier of Navellier Calculated Investing. 

That concern could be addressed by the group’s March 17 event in San Jose, where CEO Jensen Huang will likely unveil a new AI chip, the Blackwell Ultra, as well as the next-generation Vera Rubin AI platform. 

Nvidia shares were marked 0.5% lower in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $124.28 each. 

Related: Nvidia’s post-earnings slide highlights key risk

Updated at 7:18 AM EST

Kroger CEO out

Kroger  (KR)  shares edged lower in early trading following the resignation of CEO Rodney McMullen tied to a personal conduct probe the grocery chain said was unrelated to its business but was “inconsistent with its policy on business ethics.”

Kroger said McMullen, who has led the group since 2014, will step down immediately from his roles as CEO and chairman, with Ronald Sargent serving as interim boss. 

“On February 21, the Board was made aware of certain personal conduct by Mr. McMullen and immediately retained outside independent counsel to conduct an investigation, which was overseen by a special Board committee,” Kroger said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Mr. McMullen’s conduct is not related to the Company’s financial performance, operations or reporting, and it did not involve any Kroger associates.” 

Kroger shares were marked 0.9% lower in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $64.25 each. 

$KR Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen resigns amid personal conduct investigation.
Guide: "Kroger expects full-year Identical Sales w/o fuel to be at the high end of its guidance range and full-year Adjusted Earnings Per Share to be slightly above the high end of its guidance range."

— North Bluff Capital (@bluff_capital) March 3, 2025

Stock Market Today 

Stocks rallied hard late Friday, despite concerns tied to the angry exchanges between President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyiy in the White House and its impact on U.S. policy in Europe and elsewhere, but couldn’t lift the three major benchmarks into positive territory for the week.

The S&P 500 in fact closed out February with a 1.45% decline, trimming its year-to-date gain to around 1.4% as investors remained worried that the dizzying array of Trump policies on tariffs, immigration, government spending and foreign policy would weigh on economic growth over the first half of the year and beyond. 

The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow forecasting tool offered an early glimpse into that effect, with the real-time tracker showing the U.S. economy on pace to contract by 1.5% over the first quarter, a big decline from its prior estimate of a 2.3% advance. 

“Last week ended poorly,” said Boris Kovacevic, global macro strategist at Convera. “Trump and Zelenskiy clashed in the Oval Office over Ukraine, leading to a canceled press conference and signaling that an immediate peace deal is unlikely.” 

“Geopolitical tensions and tariff discussions have negatively impacted risk assets and investors question the health of the US economy,” he added. 

A series of job market data releases will test that assessment this week, and perhaps indicate the impact of Trump’s Doge-led overhaul of the federal workforce, culminating with the Labor Department’s February employment report prior to the start of trading on Friday. 

Markets will also focus on whether the president will impose tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, as well as additional duties on imports from China, starting Tuesday. The move would follow a 30-day delay he said would allow for negotiations with each of the three key U.S. trading partners.  

With the fourth-quarter-earnings season drawing to a close, only 11 S&P 500 companies are expected to report December-quarter earnings this week, with updates from Target  (TGT) , Costco  (COST) , Marvell  (MRVL)  and Broadcom  (AVGO)  likely to dominate the market’s attention. 

Related: Nvidia’s post-earnings slide highlights key risk

Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 suggest a modest  20 point opening bell gain, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average called 85 points higher. 

The tech-focused Nasdaq, which fell 4% in February, is called 125 points higher. 

Benchmark 2-year Treasury bond yields edged 3 basis points from Friday’s levels to 4.301% while 10-year notes were up 3 basis points to 4.255%.

The U.S. dollar index, meanwhile, was marked 0.55% lower against a basket of its global peers to trade at 107.019. 

Bitcoin prices were also active, rising around 8% from Sunday levels following a post from President Trump suggesting he would establish a national reserve of digital currencies, virtually all of which are already backed by U.S. dollars, sometime in the future.

More Wall Street Analysts:

• Analyst revisits Palantir stock forecast after annual report filing
• Veteran analyst sounds the alarm on Google and Mag 7
• Veteran stock analyst delivers blunt 3-word message on tariffs

In Europe, a weekend summit of regional leaders in London in support of Ukraine security boosted regional defense stocks, as well as the single currency, as Britain pledged another $1.5 billion in defense finance and NATO chief Mark Rutte said more nations would “ramp up defense spending” over the coming year.

The regional Stoxx 600 benchmark rose 0.61% in midday Frankfurt trading, while Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.55% in London.

Overnight in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.7%, rebounding from Friday’s five-month low, while the regional MSCI ex-Japan benchmark edged 0.08% higher into the close of trading.

Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast

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