S&P 500, Dow Jones kickstart March marginally higher; Nasdaq slips as Nvidia crashes nearly 5%

Monday kicked off a new trading month following a weak February, where all three major indexes closed lower.

Wall Street main indices S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average edged higher on Monday, kicking off March on a decent note, as investors balanced optimism in riskier assets against concerns over looming trade tariffs.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 174 points, or 0.4 percent. The Nasdaq Composite struggled for direction, weighed down by a sharp 4.67 percent drop in Nvidia, which tempered gains elsewhere in the technology sector.

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Tesla provided a boost to the broader market, climbing more than 3 percent after Morgan Stanley predicted a potential 50 percent rebound. Palantir, another retail investor favourite, surged over 5 percent. Southwest Airlines shares slipped 1 percent after JPMorgan downgraded the airline to underweight from neutral. It said that the stock's valuation appeared stretched, adding that Southwest’s strongest days for margins and return on invested capital were behind it.

Cryptocurrencies also staged a sharp recovery after former U.S. President Donald Trump announced a strategic crypto reserve for the country, set to include bitcoin and ether. Bitcoin briefly soared 10 percent to nearly $94,000 after falling below $80,000 on Friday. Shares of crypto-related firms such as Coinbase, Robinhood, and MicroStrategy followed suit, posting strong gains.

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Despite the market’s risk-on mood, investors remained watchful of upcoming trade measures. Trump is expected to impose tariffs on key trading partners this week, a move that has injected fresh volatility into markets amid concerns it could stoke inflation.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a television interview that Mexico has proposed mirroring U.S. tariffs on China, potentially as a bargaining chip to avoid its own tariffs set to take effect Tuesday.

Monday kicked off a new trading month following a weak February, where all three major indexes closed lower. The Nasdaq Composite was the biggest laggard, dropping 4 percent—its worst monthly performance since April 2024.

Investors now turn their focus to key labour market data, with the February jobs report due on Friday, which could offer fresh clues on the economy’s trajectory.