After waffling all afternoon, Wall Street turned sharply lower in the final hour of trading, as investors weighed the implications from today's hotter-than-expected inflation report. Losses accelerated for the Dow and Nasdaq, with both shedding triple digits, while the S&P 500 pared midday gains to finish in the red. All three benchmarks closed with weekly losses, their first since the start of 2024, while the VIX logged its best weekly performance since October.

OIL RISES, GOLD FALLS FOR THE WEEK

Oil prices moved to their highest level since November today, riding the coattails of inflation data and murky demand outlook. For the session, April-dated West Texas Intermediate Crude (WTI) added 87 cents, or 1.1%, to finish at $78.46 per barrel, and gained 3.1% on the week.

Gold inched higher today, but turned in a weekly loss amid Fed fatigue. April-dated bullion lost $9.20, or 0.4%, to settle at $2,024.10 for the session, but lost 0.5% for the week.

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