US Equity Indexes Fall This Week as Nvidia's Blowout Quarterly Results Fail to Stem Broadening Market Leadership

04:56 PM EST, 02/27/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes fell this week as the producer price index turned hot and Nvidia's (NVDA) blowout beat-and-raise failed to stem the so-called AI-scare trade.

* The S&P 500 closed at 6,878.88 on Friday versus 6,909.51 a week ago. The Nasdaq Composite stood at about 22,668.21, compared with 22,886.07 a week earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 48,977.92, versus 49,625.97 at the end of last week.

* Basic materials, consumer defensive, and utilities were the top gainers, with technology falling out of the top 5. Nvidia (NVDA) reported a blowout fiscal Q4 and guided strongly for Q1. Yet, its shares were sold off.

* Over a month and a quarter, technology performed the worst, reflecting broadening in leadership. Investors are weighing hundreds of billions of dollars of capital expenditures on artificial intelligence projects, circular funding, and concern certain industries, such as software, are at risk of disruption.

* Headlines have focused on the fact that Q4 earnings estimates for the S&P 500, the Wells Fargo Investment Institute said. "What may not be well known is that small- and mid-cap stocks (Russell 2000 and Russell Midcap Indexes) have exceeded Q4 earnings estimates as well by healthy margins."

* Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, a well-known dove who dissented in January, indicated a potential for a shift in sentiment, Stifel said. If the labor market data for February are consistent with the stronger job creation and low unemployment rate initially reported in January, "it may be appropriate to hold the FOMC's policy rate at current levels and watch for continued progress on inflation and strength in the labor market," Waller was cited as saying.

* Morgan Stanley economists raised the forecast for core personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, price index, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, after the headline and core producer price index readings for January turned up higher than forecast.

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