QQQ falls 2.72% and trails SPY by 1.10 points as tariff details and technology headlines accumulate

QQQ opened 0.72% above its previous close and SPY opened 0.48% higher, but the early gains reversed. QQQ finished down 2.72% and SPY fell 1.62%, leaving QQQ behind by 1.10 percentage points. Fourth-quarter GDP growth of 2.3% matched estimates, while initial jobless claims rose to 242,000 and core PCE inflation of 2.7% exceeded expectations. Tariff announcements set March 4 for new duties on Canada, Mexico, and China and later clarified a total 20% tariff on China. After the close, OpenAI released a research preview of GPT-4.5, adding another major technology headline to the session.