New York, February 28, 2026, 00:56 ET — Market closed.
- Nasdaq Composite closed at 22,668.21 on Friday, down about 1% for the week.
- Tech and financial shares led the late-week pullback as investors weighed AI disruption risk and hotter inflation signals.
- Focus shifts to March 6 U.S. payrolls, fresh activity gauges and Broadcom’s results.
The Nasdaq composite fell 0.9% on Friday to 22,668.21. It ended the week down about 1% as investors wrestled with inflation worries and a fresh bout of unease over which companies may get left behind by artificial intelligence.
February’s slide left the Nasdaq with its steepest monthly decline since March 2025, with tech and financial stocks hit hardest. A hotter-than-expected Producer Price Index reading pushed traders to scale back near-term hopes for Federal Reserve rate cuts, while tariff uncertainty and geopolitical tensions added to the risk-off mood. “We were reminded there are still some cracks out there,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. Reuters
The jitters are not going away next week. The February U.S. jobs report due on March 6 is expected to show payrolls up 60,000, a Reuters poll found, and Broadcom is among the late earnings reports still to come as the season winds down. “There is very little definitive right now about that,” said Kristina Hooper, chief market strategist at Man Group, while Paul Nolte at Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management said “the concern is that January is a one-off.” Reuters
Big tech again set the tone late in the week. Nvidia fell 4.2% on Friday, extending the prior session’s drop, even after results that failed to calm nerves about whether the company’s biggest customers will earn enough back from heavy data-center spending.
Earnings and deal headlines stirred sharp single-stock moves inside the Nasdaq-heavy tape. Zscaler slid 12.2% after reporting a wider quarterly net loss, while Netflix jumped 13.8% after it walked away from the contest for Warner Bros Discovery, which fell 2.2%.
Other moves were violent, if not always Nasdaq-led. Block rallied 16.8% after the payments company said it would cut nearly half its workforce as it pushes AI deeper into its operations, while Dell jumped 21.9% after projecting strength in its AI-optimized server business.
Under the surface, investors rotated toward the boring stuff. Defensive sectors such as healthcare, consumer staples and utilities outperformed, a common pattern when traders are cutting risk and looking for more stable earnings.
The risk heading into March is that the next data points force another repricing. A stronger-than-expected jobs report could revive rate fears and pressure long-duration growth stocks, while a weak report could sharpen concerns that the economy is slowing faster than expected.
The week’s diary also includes a wave of business activity surveys, including global manufacturing and services PMI readings, ahead of Friday’s U.S. payrolls report.
For Nasdaq traders, the next hard catalyst is March 6. The jobs report will test whether this AI-driven volatility is mostly about narratives — or whether the macro backdrop is turning into a bigger constraint on tech and growth.
