Stock market today: S&P 500 in bloodbath as economic jitters intensify

Investing.com - The S&P 500 slumped Friday, ending the week with a loss as soft data flagging worries about the economy triggered a sea of red of across stock.

At 4:00 p.m. ET, the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 748 points or 1.7%, the benchmark S&P 500 was down 1.7%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.2%.

Weaker services, consumer sentiment data stoke economic worry

S&P Global’s preliminary composite purchasing managers’ index for the U.S., a tracker of both the manufacturing and services sectors, came in at 50.4 in February, down from 52.7 in January, while services PMI fell to 49.7 from 52.9.

As well as weaker services data, the University of Michigan’s sentiment index showed U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated further in February, falling to a reading of 64.7 from 71.1 and missing forecasts of 64.8.

Rivian falls on soft outlook; Block falters on earning stage; Unitedhealth Group, Celisus rally

The latest quarterly earnings season is coming to close, although analysts at Vital Knowledge flagged that key reports are due out next week, including numbers from artificial intelligence-darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).

Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) fell more than 4% as the EV maker forecast a decline in deliveries for year ahead that overshadow Q4 results that topped analyst estimates.

Still some on Wall Street remained bullish on the EV maker, citing optimism on upcoming roll out of Rivan’s R2, an all-electric mid-size SUV.

"We continue to remain confident in the long-term RIVN vision that is in the midst of massive transformation while looking to optimize its R1 production while preparing to ramp its R2 and midsize platform supply chains," Wedbush said in a recent note.

Block Inc (NYSE:XYZ) slumped 17.7% after its Q4 results fell short on expectations amid rising competition for payment system.

In individual stocks, Unitedhealth Group (NYSE:UNH) shares fell 7.3% following a report in the WSJ that the DoJ has opened a civil fraud investigation into UnitedHealth’s Medicare billing practices in recent months. In response to the report, the company called the report "misinformation," emphasizing that the government routinely evaluates plans associated with the program.

Celsius Holdings (NASDAQ:CELH) surged nearly 28% after the energy drink maker announced it is set to acquire rival Alani Nu and reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

Hims Hers Health Inc (NYSE:HIMS) plunged 25% following an FDA announcement that the supply shortage of Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) weight loss and diabetes drugs was ending.

(Scott Kanowsky continued to this report)