Stocks slide as Fed meeting moves into focus

Friday was a quadruple witching

U.S. stock indexes slipped Friday as investors digested a disappointing consumer sentiment reading and looked ahead to next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 168 points, or 0.48%, while the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite index slid 0.91% and 0.92%, respectively. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 42740.42 -324.80 -0.75%
SP500 S&P 500 5815.26 -44.59 -0.76%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 18315.586893 -187.10 -1.01%

The losses come after the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for September printed 71.0, below the 72.0 that analysts surveyed by Refinitiv were expecting. The final reading for August was 70.3.

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Stocks saw heightened volatility, with the volatility index spiking more than 10% as Friday was a quadruple witching day, or when stock index futures, stock index options, stock options, and single stock futures expire simultaneously. Jittery investors remained on edge ahead of next week's Fed meeting, which could pave the way for the central bank to begin tapering its asset purchases later this year. 

Traders unloaded Treasurys, sending the yield on the 10-year note up 4 basis points to 1.37%, an almost two-month high. 

In stocks, Big Tech, including Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp., lagged as growth companies came under pressure.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
AAPL APPLE INC. 233.85 +2.55 +1.10%
MSFT MICROSOFT CORP. 418.74 -0.40 -0.10%

Elsewhere, Invesco Plc is in talks to merge with State Street Corp.’s asset management business, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
IVZ INVESCO LTD. 17.70 -0.03 -0.17%
STT STATE STREET CORP. 91.89 +0.90 +0.99%

Electric-car maker Lucid Group Inc. shares were sharply higher for a second day after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said one of its cars had a 520-mile range, the longest of any car inspected by the agency. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
LCID LUCID GROUP INC. 3.27 -0.06 -1.80%

Meanwhile, Newell Brands Inc. reported earnings and revenue that exceeded Wall Street estimates and raised its full-year sales guidance. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
NWL NEWELL BRANDS INC. 7.49 +0.02 +0.27%

Diamondback Energy Inc.’s board of directors approved a share buyback plan of up to $2 billion. 

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
FANG DIAMONDBACK ENERGY INC. 179.77 -10.93 -5.73%

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 64 cents to $71.97 a barrel and gold slipped $5.20 to $1,749.40 an ounce.

Overseas markets were mixed.

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European bourses were lower across the board with Germany's DAX 30 declining 1.03%, Britain's FTSE 100 sliding 0.91% and France's CAC 40 losing 0.79%. 

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 1.03%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.58% and China’s Shanghai Composite edged up 0.19%.