All NewsMarch 13, 2025

Stock Market Today: Stocks resume slide amid trade war concerns

U.S. stocks extended gains in early afternoon trading Thursday, while Treasury yields and the dollar bumped higher, as investors added the threat of a U.S. government shutdown to a growing list of concerns tied to the fate of the world’s biggest economy. 

Updated at 12:35 PM EDT

Intel surging 

Intel shares are back on the move, rising more than 15% on the session, following last night’s hiring of former board member Lip-Bu Tan to replace Gary Gelsinger as group CEO. 

Analysts are divided as to whether Tan, who clashed with Gelsinger over his plan to spin-off the chipmaker’s foundry division, will continue on that course, but all seem to agree that his long industry experience and track record at Cadence Design Systems, will have a positive impact on the struggling tech icon.

Related: Analyst reworks Intel stock price target as new CEO raises concerns

Updated at 11:02 AM EDT

Golden years

Gold prices hit a fresh record high of $2,967.16 per ounce in early, extending the bullion’s year-to-date gain past 12.8%, as global investors continue to snap-up risk-free assets in the face of escalating trade war concerns. 

Gold’s 2025 rally, in fact, has come amidst a 4.3% decline for the U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currency peers and the highest market volatility levels since early December.

“Trump market mayhem, driven by the latest developments surrounding trade tariffs and retaliatory measures, is pushing gold prices higher,” said Paul Williams, managing director at specialist gold supplier Solomon Global.

“As geopolitical tensions rise and economic uncertainty deepens, the growing volatility is likely to drive even more investors toward gold as the ultimate hedge against both market instability and geopolitical risks,” he added.

Updated at 10:05 AM EDT

Nearing correction

Stocks are extending declines quickly, erasing all of yesterday’s gains and pulling the S&P 500 back closer to correction territory in the opening half hour of trading.

Tepid producer price inflation and solid weekly claims data aside, investors remain concerned that President Trump’s erratic tariff strategy, as well as the dwindling prospects of a ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine, will weigh on both U.S. and global growth prospects. 

Trump’s latest salvo, a proposed 200% tariff on wines and spirits imported from Europe, followed retaliatory levies put in place by the EU earlier this week. 

The S&P 500 was last marked 43 points lower, or 0.76%, with the Nasdaq last trading 239 points, or 1.35%.

Updated at 9:35 AM EDT

Soft open

The S&P 500 was marked 10 points, or 0.18% lower in the opening minutes of trading, with the Nasdaq falling 35 points, or 0.2%. The Dow fell 100 points while the Russell 2000 slipped 2 points following the benign PPI data release. 

“More good news for the Fed,” said Chris Larkin, managing director for trading and investing at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. 

“A downside surprise in the latest PPI data builds on yesterday’s milder-than-expected CPI, but the question for markets is whether good news on the inflation front can make itself heard above the noise of the ever-changing tariff story,” he added.

Updated at 9:18 AM EDT

Dollar wise 

Dollar General  (DG)  shares jumped higher in early trading after the discount retailer posted stronger-than-expected fourth quarter earnings while cautioning on a pullback in consumer spending.

The group sees full-year earnings in the region of $5.10 to $5.80 per share, around 5 cents shy of Wall Street forecasts, with same-store sales rising between 1.2% and 2.2%.

“Our customers continue to report that their financial situation has worsened over the last year,” the company said. “Many of our customers report that they only have enough money for basic essentials, with some noting that they have had to sacrifice even on the necessities”

Dollar General shares were last marked 5.1% higher in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $78.69 each. 

Updated at 8:39 AM EDT

Factory gate easing

Producer price inflation eased notably last month, with the headline index unchanged in February and pegged at an annual rate of 3.2%, Core factory prices, meanwhile, fell by 0.1%, well inside Wall Street’s forecast of a 0.3% gain.

Labor Department data, published separately, showed weekly jobless claims slipped by 5,000 to 220,000 over the period ending on March 8, with the four-week average set modestly higher at 226,000.

Treasury note yields were little-changed following the data releases, with 2-year notes pegged at 4.009% and 10-year notes rising 1 basis point to 4.337%.

Stock futures, meanwhile, suggest a softer open, with the S&P 500 called 7 points lower and the Nasdaq priced for a 55 point decline.

Stock Market Today

Stocks ended higher on Wednesday, snapping a brutal two-day losing streak on Wall Street, the worst since August, following a modestly softer-than-expected February inflation report that induced some buying for beaten-down stocks. 

Trade-war concerns, however, continue to cast a pall over global investors’ appetite for risk, with President Donald Trump’s threat to match retaliatory tariffs planned by the European Union, as well as the ongoing tit-for-tat tariff battle with Canada, keeping a lid on gains yesterday and will likely remain a concern heading into today’s session.

At the same time, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, said he and his Democrat colleagues won’t support a Republican plan to keep the government from shutting down this weekend, and instead offered a shorter bill alternative with input from both sides of the upper chamber.

That leaves the likelihood of a least a short cessation of government activities this week, and perhaps into next week, adding another component of concern to global investors’ lists.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues will keep close tabs on today’s PPI report as they prep new growth and inflation forecasts for their policy meeting next week.

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A further worry could also materialize today in the form of the Commerce Department’s producer price inflation report, many components of which feed into the Federal Reserve’s preferred PCE Price Index, which is used to gauge interest rate forecasts. 

Analysts are once again looking for a modest easing in factory-gate price pressures, but any uptick tied to tariff increases will likely jolt markets, which remain on high alert for any indication of further economic weakness.

“Tariff fears are pushing companies to increase prices, raising the likelihood of higher inflation this summer and complicating the Fed’s policy amid recession concerns,” said George Vessey, lead foreign-exchange and macroeconomic strategist at Austria-based Convera. 

“Today’s producer price index components that affect the Fed’s preferred inflation measure are expected to accelerate from January, making it difficult for the Fed to cut rates despite slowing economic activity,” he added. “Consequently, the outlook for equities and overall risk appetite appears bleak.”

Related: CPI inflation surprise resets tariff talk

Heading into the start of the trading day on Wall Street, as well as the PPI inflation report and weekly jobless claims data at 8:30 a.m. U.S. EDT, futures tied to the S&P 500 suggest an 8-point opening-bell decline.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, is called 5 points lower with the tech-focused Nasdaq set for a 26-point opening bell dip.

Stocks on the move include Intel  (INTC) , which jumped 10% in after-hours trading last night after the chipmaker named Lip-Bu Tan as its new CEO, a move seen as paving the way for the separation of its foundry business. 

More Wall Street Analysis:

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 was marked 0.29% higher in midday Frankfurt trading, while the FTSE 100 gained 0.43% in London.

Overnight in Asia, a firmer yen kept the Nikkei 225 in negative territory for the session, with the benchmark ending 0.08% lower, while the region-wide MSCI ex-Japan benchmark fell 0.72% into the close of trading.

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