3 Economic Events That Could Affect Your Portfolio This Week, March 17-21, 2025

Stocks jumped on Friday but still closed the week with steep losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) declined by 3.07%, marking its worst week since March 2023, while the S&P 500 (SPX) lost 2.27%. Meanwhile, the tech benchmarks Nasdaq Composite (NDAQ) and Nasdaq-100 (NDX) dropped 2.43% and 2.47%, respectively. All major indexes are now deep in the red year-to-date.

Thursday’s market bloodbath saw the S&P 500 joining the Nasdaq Composite and the Nasdaq-100 in the correction territory, while the blue-chip DJIA stopped short of a correction, falling just over 9% from its all-time high. However, markets strongly rebounded on Friday, capping off their best day since November, as the reduced risk of a government shutdown prompted investors to “buy the dip” after Thursday’s brutal sell-off. Investors cheered the news that Senate Democrats backed off a threat to block a funding bill aimed at averting a shutdown. Meanwhile, the absence of fresh tariff headlines from the White House offered further relief, proving that in this case, “no news is good news.”

The market suffered over the past week as President Trump’s abrupt tariff announcements rattled sentiment. Wednesday saw a brief reprieve after encouraging inflation data, with February’s CPI coming in below expectations. Additionally, the PPI report, which feeds into the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, Core PCE, also came in weaker than expected, pointing to further disinflation at the wholesale level.

However, trade war fears quickly overshadowed these positives as concerns grew that tariffs could stall the disinflationary trend while harming economic growth. As if on cue, the University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index extended its three-month slide, dropping to its lowest level since November 2022. Consumers have been rattled by tariff-related uncertainty, with the latest developments only adding to the gloom.

With tariffs being imposed across the board and recession fears resurfacing, economists are now forecasting lower growth and higher inflation than they did just three months ago. This puts the Federal Reserve in a tough spot, as core inflation remains well above its target, while tariff uncertainty clouds the economic outlook even further.

Three Economic Events

Here are three economic events that could affect your portfolio this week. For a full listing of additional economic events, check out the TipRanks Economic Calendar.

» February’s Retail Sales – Monday, 03/17 – This report provides information on the amount of money consumers are spending on both durable and non-durable goods. Retail Sales is a leading indicator of the economy’s health, providing an outlook into the current quarter’s economic growth as well as into the inflationary factors on the demand side.

» February’s Industrial Production – Tuesday, 03/18 – This report shows the volume of production of U.S. industries like manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Although industrial production accounts for a smaller portion of the economic activity than services, its sensitivity to consumer demand and interest rates makes it a leading indicator of GDP growth and economic performance.

» February’s Existing Home Sales Change – Thursday, 03/20 – This report measures the sales volumes and prices of existing single-family homes, condos, and co-ops nationwide. Existing homes account for over 90% of total home sales in the country, so this report provides insights into the health of the housing market which has significant implications for economic activity throughout the U.S.

 

For more exclusive market insights and content from TipRanks Macro & Markets research analyst Yulia Vaiman, click here.