US stocks crumble, with Dow falling more than 300 points after December retail sales badly miss estimates

• The sell-off in US stocks continued on Friday after December retail sales badly missed estimates.
• US retail sales dropped 1.9% in December from the prior month, while economists expected a drop of only 0.1%.
• The decline sales came amid the Omicron virus surge, rising inflation, and an earlier-than-usual holiday shopping season.
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The sell-off in US stocks continued on Friday, with the Dow Jones falling more than 300 points after December retail sales badly missed estimates.

US retail sales dropped 1.9% in December from the prior month, well below economists' expectations for a decline of only 0.1%. The weak results follow November's print of a 0.2% gain in sales. The weak sales last month came amid the Omicron virus surge, rising inflation, and an earlier-than-usual holiday shopping season due to logistical concerns.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Friday:

• S&P 500: 4,628.94, down 0.65%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 35,754.50, down 0.99% (359.12 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 14,739.62, down 0.45%

Banks kicked off earnings season on Friday, with JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo reporting. But the results weren't strong enough to stem a decline in their stocks on Friday.

The Supreme Court's decision to strike down President Biden's vaccine mandate for private employers led to a continued decline in COVID-19 vaccine makers Moderna and Novavax.

The bad news keeps rolling in for Peloton, which fell 4% on Friday after it was kicked out of the Nasdaq 100 Index just one year after its inclusion. The connected-fitness company has seen its stock fall 81% from its record high.

Dogecoin prices surged about 11% on Friday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the electric vehicle manufacturer would accept the meme-inspired cryptocurrency as a form of payment for certain merchandise.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose as much as 0.61% to $82.62 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, jumped as much as 0.76% to $85.11 per barrel.

Gold rose as much as 0.23% to $1,825.50 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose 3 basis points to 1.74%.