Stock Market Today: Stocks end higher despite angry Trump-Zelenskyy exchange
The S&P 500 is negative for the year, and just 1% higher than it was on Election Day.
Updated at 4:34 PM EST by Rob Lenihan
Stocks finished higher Friday despite President Donald Trump's renewed tariff threats and a clash in the Oval Office with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 601.41 points, or 1.39%, to finish the session at 43,840.91, while the S&P 500 gained 1.59% to close at 5,954.50 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 1.63% to end the day at 18,847.28.
Month to date, the Nasdaq has led the way down, sliding nearly 4% in February due largely to a 3.5% drop this week, according to CNBC, the index’s worst month since April 2024.
The S&P 500 declined roughly 1% for the week and 1.4% in February, according to CNBC, while the Dow rose about 1% in the week. Month to date, however, the 30-stock index has dropped 1.6%.
Markets turned briefly downward after Trump berated Zelenskyy for being “disrespectful” and then abruptly called off the signing of a minerals deal with the U.S. that Trump said would have moved Ukraine closer to ending its war with Russia, the Associated Press reported.
Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said Trump and Vice President JD Vance are doing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dirty work.”
Updated at 12:53 PM EST
Tough talk
President Donald Trump's White House meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy devolved into an extraordinary series of exchanges that suggest a potential collapse in the nascent peace talks to end the war with Russia.
Trump found himself repeatedly talking over Zelenskiy, who was trying to answer questions posed by Vice President JD Vance, and accused the Ukrainian leader of "gambling with World War III," and being "very disrespectful" to the United States.
"It's going to be a tough deal to make, because the attitudes need to change," Trump said following an angry tirade to the assembled media the Oval Office.
Stocks turned lower following a broadcast of the meeting, with the S&P 500 last marked 8 points, or 0.14% lower and the Dow and the Nasdaq turning negative on the session.
Here is the ugly exchange between Trump, Zelenskiy and Vance: https://t.co/s4PqficAXg— Alex Wickham (@alexwickham) February 28, 2025
Updated at 11:19 AM EST
GDP wow!
The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow forecaster, a real-time estimate of current-quarter growth, suggests the world's biggest economy stumbled hard this month as sentiment indicators slump and consumer spending contracted.
The tracker pegs first quarter GDP as having fallen by 1.5%, a massive reduction from its prior estimate of a 2.3% advance.
On February 28, the #GDPNow model nowcast of real GDP growth in Q1 2025 is -1.5%: https://t.co/T7FoDdgYos. #ATLFedResearch
Download our EconomyNow app or go to our website for the latest GDPNow nowcast: https://t.co/NOSwMl7Jms. pic.twitter.com/HhndH6BirX— Atlanta Fed (@AtlantaFed) February 28, 2025
Updated at 11:05 AM EST
Moving parts
Stocks are moving in and out of positive territory heading into the late morning session, with the benchmark VIX volatility gauge holding north of the $20 mark, as investors look to close out a difficult month with some modest index gains.
The S&P 500 was last seen 40 points, or 0.68% higher on the day, with the Nasdaq rising 0.73%. The Dow gained 277 points.
The VIX index, however, continues to suggest the potential for an afternoon selloff, and is pricing in daily swings of 1.27%, or 75 points, for the S&P 500.
"The inflation data we received this morning should provide some relief to investors, who are on the lookout for anything that confirms recent softer economic data," said Steve Wyett, chief investment officer at BOK Financial.
"The central part of this morning’s report that will draw concern form investors was the consumer spending data, which registered below zero," he added. "As growth scares linger, the continued policy uncertainty (particularly on the trade front), and softer economic data, will keep the Fed on the sidelines for now”.
Misery Index, the sum of the unemployment rate and CPI, is 7.0
Below the long-term average of 9.0 @yardeni https://t.co/NfKNK97gp3 pic.twitter.com/lRQox4nPsE— Mike Zaccardi, CFA, CMT
