Stock Market News For Mar 18, 2025

Market News

Wall Street closed higher on Monday as investors processed economic data and expected the Fed to maintain interest rates at its next meeting. The Nasdaq Composite, the Dow and the S&P 500 ended in positive territory.

How Did the Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.9%, or 353.44 points, to close at 41,841.63. Twenty-seven components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory, while three ended in negative.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 54.58 points, or 0.3%, to close at 17,808.66.

The S&P 500 advanced 36.18 points, or 0.6%, to close at 5,675.12. Each of the 11 broad sectors of the benchmark index closed in the green. The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE), the Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) and the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) rose 1.8%, 1.6% and 1.4%, respectively.

The major gainer of the S&P 500 Index was Enphase Energy, Inc. ENPH after its shares rose 9.8%. Enphase Energy currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) decreased 5.8% to 20.51. A total of 13.86 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 16.53 billion. The S&P 500 posted nine new 52-week highs and one new low. The Nasdaq Composite recorded 45 new highs and 111 new lows.

Retail Sales Miss Forecasts as Markets Eye Fed’s Next Move

The Department of Commerce reported that retail sales in February were up 0.2% compared with the consensus estimate of 0.7%. The metric for January was revised upward to a decrease of 1.2% from 0.9% reported earlier. Retail sales were up 3.1% year over year, outpacing the 2.8% inflation rate.

Core retail sales (excluding auto) increased 0.3% in February but lagged the consensus estimate of 0.5%. The metric for January was a decrease of 0.6%.

The reports have increased economic uncertainty, marked by concerns over inflation, the Federal Reserve’s policy and trade conflicts. The Fed is projected to keep the rates steady at 4.25 % to 4.50% this week. The markets currently expect the cuts to begin in June, but uncertainty remains.

Business Inventories Trend Upward

The U.S. Census Bureau's January Business Inventories increased 0.3%, following a 0.2% decline in December.

Empire State Manufacturing Index Declines

The New York Federal Reserve released data from its Empire State manufacturing survey, revealing that the business conditions index fell to 20 for March.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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