US stocks pull lower, tariffs worries weigh

The US stocks slipped on Friday with major averages their early highs and into negative territory. The Dow fell 337.47 points or 0.8 percent to 44,544.66, the S&P 500 fell 30.64 points or 0.5 percent to 6,040.53 and the Nasdaq dipped 54.31 points or 0.3 percent to 19,627.44. For the week, the Dow rose by 0.3 percent, but the S&P 500 fell by 1.0 percent and the Nasdaq lost by 1.6 percent. Stocks showed a notable move after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed President Donald Trump's threatened tariffs will be levied against major U.S. trading partners beginning Saturday.

The Commerce Department released a closely watched report on Friday showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in the month of December. The report said the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose by 0.3 percent in December after inching up by 0.1 percent in November. Prices for goods edged up by 0.2 percent compared to the previous month, while prices for services climbed by 0.3 percent. The annual rate of growth by the PCE price index accelerated to 2.6 percent in December from 2.4 percent in November, which was also in line with estimates. Excluding food and energy prices, the core PCE price index crept up by 0.2 percent in December following a 0.1 percent uptick in November.

The Atlanta Fed released its initial estimate for first quarter U.S. economic growth on Friday following the release of the flash estimates for fourth quarter GDP growth a day earlier. The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth in the first quarter is 2.9 percent, the Atlanta Fed said. The initial estimate of last quarter's real GDP growth rate released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis on January 30 was 2.3 percent, the same as the final GDPNow model nowcast after rounding.

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