S&P 500 fell 0.64% Friday but still locked in its fourth straight monthly gain

The S&P 500 lost steam Friday, falling 0.64% to close at 6,460.26, but still nailed its fourth straight monthly ￰0￱ dip came as traders pulled cash off the table before the long weekend, after the index hit a record close above 6,500 on ￰1￱ red finish didn’t erase the broader momentum that’s been building for ￰2￱ drop followed new inflation data and came after a week of strong earnings, especially from ￰3￱ Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.15% to 21,455.55, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 92.02 points, or 0.20%, ending at 45,544.88. According to CNBC, investors trimmed positions heading into September, a month that has a long history of punishing equity ￰4￱ stumbles, Alibaba jumps, and Trump tariffs rattle sentiment Nvidia fell more than 3%, extending losses despite strong earnings reported ￰5￱ company posted 56% revenue growth last quarter, reinforcing its role in the AI-fueled ￰6￱ a report from the Wall Street Journal said Alibaba developed a more advanced chip, intensifying China’s competition just as Nvidia’s ￰7￱ issues worsened.

Alibaba’s U. S.-listed shares surged about 13%. The retreat in stocks wasn’t just about ￰8￱ PCE, the inflation reading the Federal Reserve tracks most closely, rose 2.9% in ￰9￱ was in line with estimates, but still marked an uptick from the previous month and the highest since ￰10￱ data wasn’t a surprise, but it added to market ￰11￱ Fed is still walking the line between growth and inflation, and this latest reading keeps rate path uncertainty ￰12￱ Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird, told CNBC, “The PCE number was fine, but there’s a bit of an earnings overhang and maybe just a little profit-taking after hitting an all-time high.” Stocks had already been under pressure before the inflation release, making the move feel more technical than ￰13￱ selling didn’t stop the indexes from logging gains for ￰14￱ Dow advanced over 3%, the S&P 500 climbed nearly 2%, and the Nasdaq added 1.6%.

But traders now face a rough ￰15￱ 1950, September has been the worst-performing month for the S&P 500, Dow, and ￰16￱ the last decade, the S&P 500 has averaged a 0.7% decline in September, data from Bespoke and The Stock Trader’s Almanac ￰17￱ warns on Trump’s tariffs as gold spikes above $3,400 On Friday, Caterpillar warned it could lose between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion this year due to President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, sending shares down more than 3%. Gap also said tariffs will squeeze its profit ￰18￱ said both updates added to the risk-off mood. Trump’s economic policies are raising alarms in sectors exposed to trade ￰19￱ the same time, gold is ￰20￱ of America boosted its average gold price estimate for the next six years by 6%, to $3,049 per ounce, and set a short-to-medium term target of $4,000/oz.

The bank didn’t move its short-term calls, still expecting $3,356 this year and $3,659 in ￰21￱ futures are already up about 31%, now near $3,473. The bank’s analysts, led by Jason Fairclough, said four things are fueling the rally: the ￰22￱ deficit, inflation from deglobalization, Trump’s repeated attacks on the Fed, and rising geopolitical ￰23￱ wrote, “In our view, conditions that have led to recent strength in gold prices look likely to persist.” Trump’s threats to undermine the Federal Reserve’s independence are raising red ￰24￱ Street is worried the central bank’s ability to steer monetary policy without political interference is at ￰25￱ bulls got their August ￰26￱ might not be as ￰27￱ seen where it ￰28￱ in Cryptopolitan Research and reach crypto’s sharpest investors and builders.