Consumer Sentiment Drops 10%, UnitedHealth Under Investigation: What's Driving Markets Friday?

All three major U.S. stock indices are down Friday as traders reacted to several sets of fresh data that raised concerns about the economic outlook.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to 64.7 in January, a decline of 10% and a steeper drop than expected. The 5-year inflation outlook in the survey is the highest since 1995 at 3.5%

Existing home sales sank by 4.9% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.08 million in January, the sharpest decline in seven months, according to Trading Economics.

February's flash S&P Global PMIs released Friday morning revealed a sharp, unexpected drop in services and raised concerns about the health of the private sector.

"The upbeat mood seen among US businesses at the start of the year has evaporated, replaced with a darkening picture of heightened uncertainty, stalling business activity and rising prices," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Natural gas futures rose another 4.5% Friday to $4.3/MMBtu, hitting a 25-month high as cold weather increased heating demand and disrupted production. The United States Natural Gas Fund LP UNG, tracking the daily price movements of natural gas futures contracts, climbed 3.2%.

Bitcoin BTC/USD was volatile as crypto markets reacted to a $1.4 billion Ethereum ETH/USD hack targeting Bybit’s cold wallet, one of the largest security breaches in recent history.

Friday's Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1 day % chg.
Nasdaq 100	19,753.44	-1.05%
S&P 500	6,069.73	-0.78%
Dow Jones	43,739.57	-0.99%
Russell 2000	2,231.48	-1.34%

Friday's Stock Movers:

Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH slumped nearly 9% after the Wall Street Journal reported the Department of Justice launched an investigation into the company’s Medicare billing practices.

Stocks reacting to company earnings reports included: