Stock market today: Wall Street slips, but remains on path to snap a weekly losing streak

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell in afternoon trading Friday, but the losses are softening enough to give Wall Street a chance to snap a four-week losing streak.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2%. The index is holding onto a 0.2% gain for the week, which would snap a four-week losing streak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23 points, or 0.1%, as of 1:25 p.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%.

Technology stocks were the heaviest weights on the market. The sector has been at the center of much of the market's recent sell-off in a reversal from their market-driving gains throughout the previous year. The stocks are among the most valuable on Wall Street and have outsized impacts on the whether the market gains or loses ground.

Nvidia fell 1.1% and Microsoft fell 0.6%.

Stocks have been losing ground for weeks over uncertainty about the direction of the U.S. economy. A trade war between the U.S. and its key trading partners threatens to worsen inflation and hurt both consumers and businesses. Inflation remains stubbornly above the Federal Reserve's goal of 2% and tariffs could hurt the central bank's efforts to ease the rate of inflation.

President Donald Trump has set an April 2 deadline to impose more tariffs on trading partners. It follows a series of other deadlines that have been set for tariffs only to be postponed, sometimes at the last minute.

“Investors are confused, but there's a lot less panic infusing the market,” said Mark Hackett, chief market strategist at Nationwide.

Businesses have been warning investors about tariffs, inflation and growing uncertainty about the impact to costs.

Nike slumped 5.5% after it forecast a steep decline in revenue in the current quarter, blaming geopolitical dynamics, new tariffs by the Trump administration and a less confident consumer.

FedEx tumbled 7.3% after the package delivery company said it expects revenue to be flat to slightly down year-over-year and lowered its per-share profit guidance.

Homebuilder Lennar fell 3.8% after giving investors a weaker-than-expected forecast for new orders and average sales prices for the current quarter. It said high interest rates, inflation, and waning consumer confidence are weighing on an already tough housing market.

High interest rates have been a key issue for the housing market. The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady at its most recent meeting this week as it assesses the potential impact from tariffs and other U.S. policy shifts.

The Fed cut interest rates through the end of last year amid consistently easing inflation rates, but has been holding steady so far in 2025. Lower rates can bolster the economy, but they can also push inflation higher.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has acknowledged that the economy remains solid, but stressed that uncertainty is making forecasting difficult.

A recent batch of economic reports on home sales, industrial production and unemployment reinforced the view that the economy is holding strong. But other reports on consumer sentiment and retail sales have revealed rising caution from consumers.

“We're in really pessimistic territory,” Hackett said. “When everybody is pessimistic, that's when a tiny bit of optimism can move markets pretty strongly.”

In the bond market, Treasury yields mostly held steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.25% from 4.23% late Thursday.

Airlines were under pressure. A fire knocked out power at London’s Heathrow Airport, forcing it to shut down and disrupting global travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers. Ryanair Holdings fell 1.9%.

U.S.-based airlines, including American Airlines and United Airlines, held relatively steady.

Troubled airplane maker Boeing surged 5.5% after Trump said Boeing will build the Air Force’s future fighter jet. The company has been facing scrutiny over safety issues for years.

Boeing's rival in the defense sector, Lockheed Martin, slumped 6.8%.

Markets in Europe fell. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.6% after the Bank of England held its main interest rate steady a day earlier.

Germany's DAX slipped 0.5%. German lawmakers voted for a budget that will boost defense and infrastructure spending.

Jiang Junzhe and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

People work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at the Federal Reserve in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

A stock market trader watches his monitors on the trading floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Arne Dedert/dpa/dpa via AP)

Stock market traders work behind their desks on the trading floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Arne Dedert/dpa/dpa via AP)

The display board with the Dax curve in the trading hall of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Arne Dedert/dpa/dpa via AP)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Three people died and 14 others were injured after an altercation broke out Friday at a park in the desert city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, police said Saturday.

Police and fire crews arrived at just after 10 p.m. Friday onto a chaotic scene at the city's Young Park, where an unauthorized car show had drawn about 200 people, police said during a news conference. Gunshot victims ranging in age from 16 to 36 were treated on the scene or sent to area hospitals.

Between 50 and 60 shell casings — all from handguns — were found scattered across a wide swath of the large park, Police Chief Jeremy Strong said, suggesting multiple shooters and multiple weapons within the two opposing groups. Several others were injured in the crossfire, he said.

Those who died were two 19-year-old men and a 16-year-old boy. Their names and those of the other victims were not yet being released. Local police were being assisted in their investigation by New Mexico State Police, the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Las Cruces Fire Chief Michael Daniels said seven patients were treated at the scene, including two who died, and 11 others were sent to three local hospitals or to University Medical Center of El Paso, the regional trauma center. By Saturday, seven of the surviving victims were in El Paso, while four others had been treated and released and the four remaining victims' conditions were not known, he said.

Authorities continued to solicit videos and other tips from those in attendance as they worked to identify a suspect or suspects who carried out the attack.

“This horrendous, senseless act is a stark reminder of the blatant disregard people in New Mexico have for the rule of law and order,” Strong said, vowing about the perpetrators to “find each and every one of them, and we will. We will hold them accountable to the criminal justice system.”

In a post to Instagram on Saturday, Las Cruces City Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Johana Bencomo expressed grief at the tragedy.

“Part of me wanted to write that this is something you never really think this is going to happen in your city, but that actually feels deeply untrue,” she wrote. “Honestly now days a tragedy like this feels like a nightmare just waiting to come true at any possible moment, yet also always praying and hoping it never will.”

Las Cruces sits on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert along the Rio Grande River in southern New Mexico, about 41 miles (66 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexican border.

The department was still on scene Saturday and the area around the park was closed to traffic, according to local media reports.

“This is a huge crime scene with a lot of moving parts,” he said. “It will take time to process it thoroughly and reopen everything.”

The shootings cast a pall over efforts by New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the state Legislature to find effective solutions to persistently high crime rates and concerns about gun violence.

Lujan Grisham recently signed off on a package of enhanced penalties for vehicle theft, fentanyl trafficking, school-shooting threats – along with a ban on devices that convert guns to automatic weapons. Legislators passed an overhaul of the state’s red-flag gun law that can temporarily remove firearms from people who may be a danger, and bolstered funding for addiction and mental health treatment.

But the governor also said this week she was “appalled” by progress on juvenile justice reforms, as time ran out on a 60-day legislative session on Saturday at noon.

AP Reporter Morgan Lee in Santa Fe contributed to this report.

Crime scene technicians look over the Young Park parking lot after a mass shooting overnight, Saturday, March 22, 2025 in Las Cruces, N.M. (Justin Garcia/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)