Stocks sold off sharply on Friday, pressured by growing uncertainty on U.S. trade policy as well as a more grim outlook on inflation.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 715.80 points, or 1.69%, at 41,583.90. The S&P 500 shed 1.97% to 5,580.94, ending the week down for the fifth time in the last six weeks. The Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.7% to settle at 17,322.99.

Shares of several technology giants dropped, putting pressure on the broader market. Google-parent Alphabet lost 4.9%, while Meta and Amazon each shed 4.3%.

This week, the S&P 500 lost 1.53%, while the 30-stock Dow shed 0.96%. The Nasdaq declined by 2.59%. With this latest losing week, Nasdaq is now on pace for a more than 8% monthly decline, which would be its worst monthly performance since December 2022.

Stocks took a leg lower on Friday after the University of Michigan's final read on consumer sentiment for March reflected the highest long-term inflation expectations since 1993.

Friday's core personal consumption expenditures price index also came out hotter-than-expected, rising 2.8% in February and reflecting a 0.4% increase for the month, stoking concerns about persistent inflation. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for respective numbers of 2.7% and 0.3%. Consumer spending accelerated 0.4% for the month, below the 0.5% forecast, according to fresh data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

"The market is getting squeezed by both sides. There is uncertainty around next week's reciprocal tariffs hitting the major exporting sectors like tech alongside concerns about a weakening consumer facing higher prices hitting areas like discretionary," said Scott Helfstein, head of investment strategy at Global X.

Helfstein added, however, that the news on inflation and consumer spending "was not that bad" and could simply represent a hiccup in near-term sentiment as investors struggle to understand the Trump administration's new policies.

"Despite today's sell-off and broader market volatility of the past few weeks, there have not been big inflows into money markets. It seems like a lot of investors are trying to ride this out," he said.

The latest inflation report comes amid a flurry of tariff announcements from the White House, which have roiled the market in recent weeks. Investors are looking ahead to April 2, when President Donald Trump is expected to announce further tariff plans, for further clarity.

On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Trump that the Canadian government will implement retaliatory tariffs following Wednesday's announcements. Bloomberg earlier reported that the European Union is identifying concessions it could make to Trump's administration to reduce the reciprocal tariffs from the U.S.

Trump earlier this week announced a 25% tariff on "all cars that are not made in the United States," a decision that hurt auto stocks and raised concerns of an economic slowdown.

Stocks plunge on Friday, S&P 500 closes week down for the fifth time in last six weeks

The S&P 500 tumbled 1.97% to end at 5,580.94, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.70% to close at 17,322.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 715.80 points, or 1.69%, to settle at 41,583.90.

— Pia Singh

At one point Friday, Wall Street's VIX index tracking fear and greed almost jumped 20%

At one point on Friday, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) soared nearly 20% from its close on Thursday, touching a lunchtime high of 22.18, which was only the highest absolute level since March 18 and the largest percentage increase since March 10.

The VIX Index measures traders' expectations for how much the S&P 500 might move in either direction, up or down, over the next 30 days, using options prices. When the VIX is high, traders are thought to be skittish, contemplating large swings in prices and when the VIX is low, investors are considered to be calm and complacent.

The VIX this month soared as high as 29.57 during a market sell-off on March 11, after ending February at 19.63. The VIX low for the month of March came earlier this week, on Wednesday March 26, after a three-day rebound in stocks drove the index down to 16.97.

— Scott Schnipper

Stock market may have made 'intermediate-term low,' technical strategist says

The stock market appears to be on more solid trading after weeks of choppy trading, according to Piper Sandler chief market technician Craig Johnson.

"We believe the weight of the technical evidence suggests an intermediate-term low may be in place despite the heightened uncertainties surrounding tariffs and inflation. While the path to a more meaningful recovery is often not a straight line upward, it appears that equities have found some footing off the March lows from which to build upon in the upcoming weeks," Johnson said in a note to clients.

One positive technical sign is that the S&P 500 has "found support on a test of its bullish gap from Monday at 5,670," Johnson wrote. Breadth indicators have also improved, according to Piper Sandler.

— Jesse Pound

U.S. underperforms most foreign markets this year, data shows

U.S. stocks are lagging most foreign markets, data compiled by Oppenheimer's trading desk shows.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) has dropped more than 3% so far this year. Meanwhile, the average country's exchange-traded fund has gained more than 8%, Oppenheimer found.

Oppenheimer reported that the S&P 500 ETF currently ranks 39th out of the 45 country funds it tracks.

— Alex Harring

CoreWeave opens at $39 per share in biggest U.S. tech IPO since 2021

CoreWeave opened at $39 per share in its Nasdaq debut Friday after the company sold shares at $40. Still, the artificial intelligence tech seller raised $1.5 billion in its initial public offering, the most for a U.S. tech IPO since 2021.

— Fred Imbert

Bitcoin heads for its first 3-week slide of the year

Cryptocurrencies tumbled with equities to finish out the week.

The price of bitcoin was last lower by more than 3% at $83,850.80, according to Coin Metrics, putting the flagship cryptocurrency on pace for its first three-week slide of 2025 as concerns around Trump's tariff push rocked markets in March. It's just under the flat line for both the week and the month.

Ether dropped 6% to $1,875.16, tracking for a 5% weekly decline and a loss of 15% for the month. It's heading for its fourth negative month in a row — its longest such slide since late 2018.

— Tanaya Macheel, Nick Wells

S&P 500 headed for first losing quarter in six

The S&P 500 is on track for its first negative quarter in six, with just two business days left in the first quarter of 2025, according to Deutsche Bank.

The broad market index is down 4.9% year to date. Tariff uncertainty has weight on stocks, with the S&P 500 down 1.8% Friday after consumer sentiment data for March missed expectations, while February's core personal consumption expenditures price index was hotter than economists had forecast.

— Hakyung Kim

Canadian prime minister says there will be more retaliatory tariffs

U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke Friday. The Canadian readout of the discussion called the conversation "very constructive" but warned that Carney's administration would push back against any additional tariffs from the U.S.

"The Prime Minister informed the President that his government will implement retaliatory tariffs to protect Canadian workers and our economy, following the announcement of additional U.S. trade actions on April 2, 2025," the readout said.

Carney became prime minister earlier this month, replacing Justin Trudeau. A federal election in Canada is scheduled for April 28 and will determine whether Carney stays in the top role.

— Jesse Pound

'Animals in hibernation' may lead to slower economic growth, BlackRock's Rieder says

Rick Rieder, BlackRock's chief investment officer for global fixed income, said Thursday that a rocky start to the year for Wall Street could tamp down economic growth.

"We came into the beginning of this year, it was all about animal spirits. And it seems like it has moved to animals in hibernation from animal spirits. And that can translate into a bit slower growth for a couple of quarters," Rieder said on "Closing Bell."

The stock market has struggled so far in 2025, with the S&P 500 down 3.2% year to date. Surveys of investors and small business owners also show that confidence has dropped in recent months.

— Jesse Pound

Stocks making the biggest moves midday

Check out some of the companies making headlines in midday trading:

• Rocket Lab — Stock in the aerospace manufacturer gained 3% after the U.S. Space Force listed the company as one of the firms entered in its pool of launch providers.
• Braze — Stock in the cloud software company added 6% after beating analysts' estimates in the fourth quarter on the top and bottom lines. Braze reported adjusted earnings of 12 cents per share, while analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for 5 cents. Revenue of $160.4 million also beat the $155.7 million forecast from analysts. 
• Lululemon — Shares of the athleticwear company plunged more than 14% after the firm issued 2025 guidance that disappointed analysts. The company said consumers are spending less due to economic and inflation concerns, resulting in lower U.S. traffic at Lululemon and industry peers.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

Raymond James downgrades Lululemon on slowing U.S. growth

Raymond James believes lower growth will drag down shares of Lululemon, despite the athleticwear maker's acceleration in innovation.

In a Friday note, analyst Rick Patel downgraded shares of Lululemon to market perform from outperform. He also removed his previous $430 price target.

Shares of Lululemon have slipped 11% this year and nearly 13% over the past 12 months.

Patel pointed to slowing growth in the U.S. as a major catalyst for the downgrade.

"This was prompted by lower U.S. traffic in F1QTD due to an uncertain consumer. LULU already has self-help initiatives underway through accelerating innovation. But despite favorable initial reads from recent product launches (improvement in conversion, average order value, units per transaction), the U.S. remains challenged and is only planned to grow modestly in FY25," he wrote. "Net, we're on the sidelines looking for more conviction on upside to reset expectations."

— Lisa Kailai Han

Trump says he has 'extremely productive call' with new Canadian Prime Minister

President Trump said Friday morning that he had a positive conversation with new Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

"It was an extremely productive call, we agree on many things, and will be meeting immediately after Canada's upcoming Election to work on elements of Politics, Business, and all other factors, that will end up being great for both the United States of America and Canada," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump has shared hopes of making Canada a U.S. state and referred to Carney's predecessor as "governor."

— Alex Harring

Tesla poised to snap historic losing streak

Despite Friday's slide, Tesla is on track to end its longest weekly negative streak on record.

While the electric vehicle stock lost more than 3% during the session, it is still up more than 6% on the week. If that holds, it would mark its first positive week of the past 10.

Shares have been on a record-setting weekly losing streak amid mounting pressures on Tesla and Elon Musk, its chief executive who is also running President Trump's controversial government efficiency initiative. Despite this week's pop, the stock is still down more than 34% in 2025.

— Alex Harring

Consumer sentiment misses expectations

The University of Michigan's final read on consumer sentiment for March came in at 57, slightly below a Dow Jones estimate of 57.9, as inflation expectations reach multidecade highs.

"Long-run inflation expectations surged from 3.5% in February to 4.1% in March, reflecting from a large surge among independents plus a sizable rise among Republicans," Surveys of Consumers director Joanne Hsu wrote. Expectations have not been that high since early 1993.

"This month's decline reflects a clear consensus across all demographic and political affiliations; Republicans joined independents and Democrats in expressing worsening expectations since February for their personal finances, business conditions, unemployment, and inflation," Hsu said.

— Fred Imbert

Stocks open lower Friday

Shortly after market open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 122 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 shed about 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite traded nearly 0.7% lower.

— Pia Singh

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket

Check out the companies making headlines before the bell:

• Lululemon Athletica — Shares tumbled more than 11% after the athleisure retailer's 2025 guidance came in weaker than expected. Lululemon forecasts first-quarter earnings in a range of $2.53 to $2.58 per share, compared to the $2.72 expected by analysts polled by LSEG. First-quarter projected revenue of $2.335 billion to $2.355 billion was also lower than the $2.39 billion consensus forecast. However, fourth-quarter results beat on both sales and profit.
• U.S. Steel — The stock jumped nearly 5% after Semafor reported that Japan-based Nippon Steel is willing to invest as much as $7 billion in the American steelmaker to obtain President Donald Trump's approval for their merger.
• Bausch + Lomb — The eye health company pulled back more than 4% a day after it announced a "voluntary recall" of certain implantable eye lenses following reports of complications. Wells Fargo downgraded shares to equal weight from overweight in a Thursday note, citing the recall.

The full list can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim

Trump told automakers not to raise prices after tariffs: Report

President Donald Trump warned top automaker CEOs not to raise prices in response to tariffs during a call earlier this month, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The president reportedly said any increases would be looked upon unfavorably by the administration. The warning disturbed some of the executives and left them concerned they would be punished if they hiked prices, the Journal said, citing people with knowledge of the call.

On Wednesday, Trump announced 25% tariffs on "all cars that are not made in the United States," to go into effect April 2.

—Michelle Fox

Wells Fargo downgrades Bausch + Lomb over Thursday’s intraocular lens recall

Wells Fargo downgraded shares of Bausch + Lomb to an equal weight rating from overweight in a Thursday note.

Simultaneously, analyst Larry Biegelsen reduced his price target on the stock to $15 from $24. Shares of Bausch + Lomb closed at $15 on Thursday, slipping more than 4% during the day's session after announcing a recall of its enVista intraocular lenses over potential safety concerns due to an increased number of reports of toxic anterior segment syndrome.

Biegelsen cited this recall as the main catalyst for the downgrade. "enVista was an important growth driver and BLCO's main entry into the fast growing premium IOL segment," he wrote.

The analyst added that he believes enVista products will eventually return to the market, although it's still uncertain how long the issue may take to resolve. He also predicted that the product would most likely lose market share.

"We believe the enVista recall and limited visibility on impact/timeline further complicates the outlook and will likely keep BLCO shares range bound. As such, we are stepping to the sideline on BLCO," the analyst wrote.

— Lisa Kailai Han

CoreWeave prices its IPO at $40 a share

CoreWeave priced its shares at $40 apiece in its initial public offering, raising $1.5 billion, CNBC has confirmed.

The figure comes in below the expected range of $47 to $55 per share.

The tech company is slated to debut on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker "CRWV."

Read more on the offering from CNBC's Leslie Picker and Jordan Novet here.

—Darla Mercado

Stocks on track for a second straight winning week

The major averages are on pace for a second straight week of gains. As of Thursday's close, here is where they stand:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 0.75% higher.
• The S&P 500 is up 0.45%.
• The Nasdaq Composite is 0.11% higher.

— Sarah Min

The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure is due out Friday

February's personal consumption expenditures price index is expected to a show a 0.3% increase last month, and a 2.5% rise from 12 months earlier, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.

The PCE price index reading is due out Friday morning.

— Sarah Min

The odds of a V-shaped recovery after April 2 is 'extremely high,' Fundstrat's Tom Lee says

Stocks could stage a major comeback after April 2, much as they did in 2018 when investors last sought clarity on the tariff front from President Donald Trump, according to Fundstrat's Tom Lee.

"The odds of a V-shaped recovery in stocks that come after April 2 is just extremely high because we've already sequenced a lot of the panic that people saw in 2018," Lee said Thursday on CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime."

If that's the case, Lee expects the "Magnificent Seven" stocks could outperform. As an example, he noted the recent recovery in Tesla, which is up nearly 10% this week after coming under pressure this year from CEO Elon Musk's involvement with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The electric vehicle stock is still off by 32% in 2025.

"I think if Tesla is leading us into this balance, that's a bold case for Mag Seven to be the group to own in the next few months," Lee said.

— Sarah Min

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours

Here are the stocks making the biggest moves in extended trading.

• Lululemon — Shares tumbled 10% after the athleisure company issued a weaker-than-expected first-quarter outlook, even as fourth-quarter earnings and revenue topped analysts' expectations. Lululemon forecasts first-quarter earnings in a range of $2.53 to $2.58 per share, compared to the $2.72 expected by analysts polled by LSEG. First-quarter revenue of $2.335 billion to $2.355 billion was also lower than the $2.39 billion consensus estimate.
• Braze — Shares surged about 9% after the customer engagement platform posted fourth-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations. Braze posted adjusted earnings of 12 cents per share, topping the FactSet consensus estimate of 5 cents in earnings per share. Revenue of $160.4 million also exceeded the $155.7 million expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

— Sarah Min

Stock futures open little changed

Stock futures opened little changed Thursday night.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 15 points, or 0.04%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures each climbed 0.06%.

— Sarah Min