Stocks fell Friday, capping off a choppy trading week for Wall Street, as market participants continued to weigh the start of the third-quarter earnings season against a batch of fresh inflation data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 400 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite slumped over 2% and 3%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -2.37% or -86.84 points to 3,583.07
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -1.34% or -403.89 points to 29,634.83
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -3.08% or -327.76 points to 10,321.39
Despite the session's losses, the Dow ended the week up more than 1%. However, both the S&P and Nasdaq ended the volatile week lower, falling 1.5% and 3.1%, respectively.
Stocks turned sharply lower on Friday after the University of Michigan's consumer survey showed inflation expectations increased in the first half of October, sparking concerns the Federal Reserve will take more action to stabilize prices.
In October's preliminary reading, one-year inflation expectations rose to 5.1% from a previous reading of 4.7% amongst consumers surveyed. The institution's overall consumer sentiment index rose to 59.8 from 58.6 in September.
"Last month, long run inflation expectations fell below the narrow 2.9-3.1% range for the first time since July 2021, but since then expectations have returned to that range at 2.9%," said Joanne Hsu, director of Surveys of Consumers, in statement. "After 3 months of expecting minimal increases in gas prices in the year ahead, both short and longer run expectations rebounded in October."
In other consumer news, retail sales were unchanged from August's 0.4% gain in September due to inflationary pressures and increasing interest rates. On an annual basis, retail sales rose 8.2% last month, matching the rise in the consumer price index.
Elsewhere, big banks kicked off their third-quarter earnings season on Friday. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) posted results that topped expectations for both earnings and revenue, as the bank generated more interest income from rising rates. Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) reported a stronger-than-expected revenue, which helped offset a quarterly profit miss. Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported a 25% profit drop due to weak investment banking activity, with Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) also posted similar results.
For stocks, Kroger (NYSE: KR) announced Friday it plans to acquire Albertsons (NYSE: ACI) in a $24.6 billion deal. Kroger is the second-largest grocer by market share in the United States, behind Walmart (NYSE: WMT), while Albertsons is fourth.
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) shares plunged lower on Friday after the company announced it plans to cut 19% of its global workforce. The cuts are expected to be completed by the end of the year and are in effort to achieve positive cash flow operations within the second half of 2023.