Heavy March Headwinds Continue: Stocks Market Indexes Down

Market Overview - The stock market experienced a significant decline, with the Dow dropping 427 points (-0.99%), the S&P 500 down 104 points (-1.78%), and the Nasdaq falling 483 points (-2.61%) [1] - Over the past month, major indexes have seen substantial losses: Dow -4.8%, S&P 500 -5.6%, Nasdaq -8.7%, and Russell 2000 -10.4% [2] Employment Situation - The upcoming Employment Situation report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is anticipated to show an addition of 170K jobs with an unemployment rate of 4.0% for February [3] - Recent private-sector payrolls from ADP were significantly lower than expected, indicating potential challenges in job growth [3] Company Earnings Reports - Costco (COST) reported fiscal Q2 earnings of $4.02 per share, missing estimates by 7 cents, but revenues of$63.72 billion exceeded expectations. This marks the first earnings miss in two years, with shares down 1% post-report [4] - Gap (GAP) exceeded earnings expectations with 54 cents per share against a forecast of 36 cents, and revenues of $4.1 billion slightly surpassed estimates. Shares surged 15$1.60 per share, beating estimates, with revenues of $14.92 billion. The AI segment saw remarkable growth of 77% year-over-year, leading to a 15% increase in shares after the report [6]