Big Tech Stocks Slip; Palantir Tumbles 6%; Tesla, AMD, Alphabet Drop 3%; Nvidia, Apple down 2%

Big tech stocks slipped.

Palantir fell 6%; Intel fell 4%; AMD, Alphabet, Tesla fell 3%; Nvidia, Apple fell 2%.

The final reading of consumer sentiment in March fell to 57.0 from a preliminary 57.9 released earlier in the month, the University of Michigan said Friday.

The index is at its lowest level since November 2022.

“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 haven’t 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.

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, increasing 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 latest PCE report presented mixed results, with headline figures aligning with expectations, while core numbers reveal a slight but notable increase,” said Dan Siluk, a portfolio manager at Janus Henderson. “Such resilience in core inflation, persistently above the Federal Reserve’s target, suggests expectations for a shift in monetary policy may need to be recalibrated, potentially affecting the timing of interest rate adjustments.”

Investors continue to monitor President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements, which have roiled the market. Trump this week announced a 25% tariff on “all cars that are not made in the United States,” hitting auto stocks and raising concerns of an economic slowdown. Bloomberg reported on Friday that the European Union is identifying concessions it’s could make to Trump’s administration to reduce the reciprocal tariffs from the U.S. that are set to increase after April 2, when Trump is expected to announce further tariff plans.