New York, February 28, 2026, 12:54 AM EST — Market closed.
The New York Stock Exchange’s NYSE Composite ended Friday at 23,494.44, down 30.40 points, or 0.13%. It was up about 0.2% for the week, based on its Feb. 20 close. 1
Wall Street finished the week with heavier pressure in the headline benchmarks: the Dow fell 1.1% on Friday, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.4% and the Nasdaq lost 0.9%. All three logged weekly declines, with the Dow down 1.3% and the S&P 500 off 0.4%. 2
That matters now because February ended with investors juggling two themes that rarely travel alone: artificial intelligence upheaval and stubborn inflation. Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, called it a “classic risk-off” stretch — investors leaning into safer sectors and trimming riskier growth names. Futures markets were pricing about a 94% chance the Fed holds its 3.50%-3.75% policy range at the March meeting, CME’s FedWatch showed. 3
The Producer Price Index (PPI), a gauge of wholesale inflation, rose 0.5% in January and was up 2.9% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said. Ben Ayers, senior economist at Nationwide, said wider margins could “add some upside” to consumer costs, and he expects the Fed “to remain on pause” at its March meeting. 4
Credit nerves flared too. The collapse of UK mortgage provider Market Financial Solutions Ltd rattled lenders and alternative-asset firms linked to the loans, with Barclays, Jefferies, Santander and Wells Fargo among the names tied to the business, according to court documents and the report. “We’re starting to continue to see these types of things pop up,” Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading, said. 5
On the corporate side, Block said it plans to cut more than 4,000 jobs — nearly half its workforce — as it tries to embed AI across operations. CEO Jack Dorsey wrote that “a significantly smaller team using the tools can do more and do it better,” and the stock jumped as investors weighed the costs and the promise of a leaner model. 6
Dell Technologies surged after forecasting its AI server revenue would double in fiscal 2027 to about $50 billion and announcing a 20% dividend hike plus an extra $10 billion buyback. Analysts led by Samik Chatterjee at J.P. Morgan pointed to “more flexibility” in managing operating margin, while Dell faces the same higher memory costs that have weighed on rivals such as HP and Lenovo. 7
Oil and rates added their own push and pull. Brent settled up 2.45% at $72.48 a barrel and U.S. crude finished at $67.02 as markets tracked U.S.-Iran tensions, while the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell to 3.96%. Talley Leger, chief market strategist at The Wealth Consulting Group, said semiconductors had “priced in a lot of good news” and it was “time for a breather.” 8
Next week is stacked with surveys and labor signals. The ISM manufacturing report — a closely watched read on factory activity — is due Monday, followed by ADP’s private payroll estimate and ISM services on Wednesday, ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report. S&P Global said PMI surveys (Purchasing Managers’ Indexes) and payrolls will be parsed for evidence the U.S. slowdown is taking hold. 9
The February payrolls report lands March 6, and economists in a Reuters poll see job growth of 60,000 after January’s 130,000 rise, with unemployment at 4.3%. Kristina Hooper, chief market strategist at Man Group, said there is “very little definitive” so far on which companies are the likely AI winners and losers. Broadcom reports on Wednesday, with retailers Best Buy and Target also due as earnings season tapers off. 10
But the setup can break either way. Another firm inflation print or a stronger-than-expected jobs report could push rate-cut hopes further out and hit the parts of the market priced for easier money, while fresh AI headlines can still whip software and chip shares around and rekindle worries over corporate spending.
Stocks reopen Monday with investors watching whether the defensive bid that steadied parts of the New York Stock Exchange last week sticks into March. Friday’s jobs report on March 6 is the next hard catalyst — a single number that can move rate expectations and, with them, the tone of trade.
