US stocks close lower, Dow Jones falls 750 points

US stock indexes closed lower on Friday following weak economic data and sharp pressure on UnitedHealth stock.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.7%, or 748 points, to settle at 43,428 points, the biggest daily decline in 2025, deepening its weekly loss to 2.5%.

The S&P 500 index fell 1.7%, or 104 points, to 6,013 points. Similarly, Nasdaq Composite lost 2.2%, or 2.2 points, to close at 19,542 points.

As for European markets, the STOXX Europe 600 inched up 0.5% to 553.85 points, with weekly gains of 0.25%.

The British FTSE index stabilized at 8,659 points, while the German DAX index was down 0.1% to 22,287 points. The French CAC 40 index rose 0.4% to 8,154 points.

The Nikkei index advanced 0.25% to 38,777 points, and the broader Topix index kept flat at 2,736 points.

Brent crude futures for April delivery dropped 2.87%, or $2.05, to $74.43 per barrel. The US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for April delivery also fell 2.87%, or $2.08, to $70.4 per barrel. Both contracts recorded weekly losses of 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively.

Regarding gold, futures prices for April delivery were down 0.1%, or $2.9, to $2,953.2 per ounce, with a weekly gain of 1.8%.