S&P 500 turns negative as Trump argues with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy in Oval Office: Live updates

The S&P 500 traded into the red on Friday as President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clashed in the Oval Office, raising concerns about rising geopolitical risks.

The S&P 500 was lower by 0.1%, giving up a solid gain of 0.7% earlier in the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 11 points after adding more than 300 points earlier. The Nasdaq Composite was down by 0.1%.

The major benchmarks traded lower as Trump, along with Vice President JD Vance, argued with Zelenskyy during an extraordinary moment in front of the media at the White House. The leaders met Friday regarding a possible Ukraine mineral rights deal for the U.S., which investors hoped would be a precursor to eventually bringing about an end to the war with Russia.

“You either make a deal or we’re out,” said Trump at one point to Zelenskyy. “You’re gambling with World War III.”

The Cboe Volatility Index, a gauge of fear on Wall Street, traded higher as the fight unfolded.

“I’m disturbed by what I just saw,” said investor Jim Lebenthal of Cerity Partners on CNBC’s “Halftime Report.” “If the policies in foreign affairs is now to empower Russia and Vladimir Putin, I don’t think that’s good for the stock market. I don’t think that’s good for the global economy. I find it hard to make a case otherwise.”

Major technology stocks and other shares considered riskier growth names traded into the red Friday, continuing their recent declines. Nvidia was lower, bringing its loss for the week to 11%. Palantir was lower by 3%, bringing its loss for the week to nearly 20%.

The Trump-Zelenskyy argument was “basically just like a street fight on national television,” said Jay Hatfield, chief executive officer at Infrastructure Capital Management. “That’s generally slightly destabilizing for the market, but now that it’s over, it’s kind of like calming down.”

Investors have been rattled in recent days by Trump’s promise of tariffs, along with recent economic reports flashing warning signs. A decline of 8.5% in megacap tech titan Nvidia in Thursday’s session following its quarterly earnings report threw more cold water on investor sentiment.

On Friday, the Atlanta Fed’s GDP Now measure, which tracks economic data in real time and adjusts continuously, adjusted to forecast first-quarter output falling by 1.5%.

Month to date, the Nasdaq has led the way down, sliding around 5% in February due largely to a 4.6% drop this week. The technology-heavy Nasdaq is on pace for its worst month since September 2023.

The S&P 500 has declined 2.1% for the week and around 2.6% in February. The broad market index is on track for its worst week since September 2024, and biggest monthly decline since April 2024. Year to date, it is now trading nearly 0.1% in negative territory. Meanwhile, the Dow is unchanged for the week. Month to date, however, the 30-stock index has dropped 2.5%.