Dow Tumbles 500 Points, Volatility In Markets Increases Further

U.S. stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, as higher-than-expected inflation data resulted in losses for the third quarter.

Recent personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index data showed an increase of 0.3% for August after declining 0.1% in the previous month.

It was the third weekly drop in a row for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones.

Shares of Apple Inc. AAPL and Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN traded lower on Friday.

The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.73% to close at 10,971.22 on Friday, while the S&P 500 declined 1.51%. The Dow Jones dipped around 500 points to settle at 28,725.51 in the previous session.

Majority of the sectors on the S&P 500 closed on a lower note, with information technology and consumer discretionary stocks recording the biggest plunge on Friday. Real estate, however, was the worst performing sector in the previous session.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange's CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 2.7% to 32.69 points on Friday.

What is CBOE Volatility Index?

The CBOE Volatility Index, popularly known as VIX, is a measure of the equity market's expectation of volatility based on S&P 500 index call and put options.