1. Stocks ended lower after a choppy trading session. The S&P 500 flirted with a correction, down 9.3% from its February 19 record close. 2. Small businesses are feeling the heat of the Trump transition, with the NFIB optimism index slipping to 100.7. 3. Bulls hoping for an oversold bounce were left holding the bag as traders chose to fade rallies rather than buy dips.

➀ The U.S. Chips Act awards $5 million to 17 small businesses for metrology projects under the SBIR Programme; ➁ The funding aims to establish the merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of the proposed projects; ➂ The recipients include companies focused on high-speed cameras, EUV lithography, cryogenic systems, thermal analysis, and semiconductor fabrication equipment among others.