A Late-Friday Stock Rally Wasn’t Enough to Dig Out of February’s Hole
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Okay, business leaders, are you here to play or are you playing to win? If you're in it to win, meet your next MVP, NetSuite by Oracle. Right now, get the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at netsuite.com slash wallstreet. netsuite.com slash wallstreet. Here's your closing bell brief for Friday, February 28th. I'm Danny Lewis for The Wall Street Journal. A late Friday rally wasn't enough to dig U.S. stocks out of their February hole.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 601 points to close at 43,841. The S&P 500 advanced 93 points, and the Nasdaq gained 303 points. For the week, the Dow gained almost a percent, the S&P lost a percent, and the Nasdaq fell 3.5%. All three major indexes logged losses for the month, with the Nasdaq leading the February retreat with a 4% decline.

Investors have white-knuckled their way through earnings season and a mounting pile of data suggesting the U.S. economy is slowing. A new forecast by the Atlanta Fed suggests the GDP could shrink by 1.5% during the first quarter. Previously, GDP was estimated to grow 2.3% this quarter. U.S. stocks seesawed today after a tense Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

And investors also tried to gauge whether Trump's tariff threats against allies like Canada and Mexico will go ahead next week. In individual companies trading today, Nvidia shares rose 4%, gaining back some ground lost this week after investors were disappointed that the chipmaker's latest blockbuster earnings weren't blockbuster enough.

And stock in energy drink maker Monster Beverage gained 5.3% after reporting a rebound in international sales and better-than-expected overall sales last quarter. We'll have a lot more news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker, or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

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