Dow Jones Industrial Average Today Falls as AAPL Stock Slumps

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped on Friday as investors digested a slew of economic data and monitored fluctuations in oil prices. Once again, central banks around the globe dominated headlines. Following announcements by the Bank of Japan, the Bank of New Zealand, and the U.S. Federal Reserve to leave rates unchanged, the European Central Bank generated the most attention today.

The ECB is unlikely to overhaul its approach to monetary policy. According to reports, the central bank is well aware of the limitations of monetary policy and has said it believes its efforts to stabilize the world's largest economic bloc have been effective.

Let's look at the final numbers on Friday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:

Dow Jones: 18,261.65; -130.81; -0.71%                             

S&P 500: 2,164.71; -12.48; -0.57% 

Nasdaq: 5,305.75; -33.78; -0.63%

Here's a look at today's most important market events and stocks, plus a preview of Monday's economic calendar.

DJIA Today: OPEC Production Freeze on the Table as Saudi Arabia Proposes Cuts

The Dow Jones fell more than 130 points as investors lost hope for a production freeze by OPEC and investors weighed statements from members of the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, shares of Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) fell more than 1.1% after GFK issued concerns about the company's iPhone 7 sales.

Three members of the central bank spoke in Philadelphia this morning, while hawkish-toned Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren called for graduate rate hikes in the near future. Rosengren raised concerns about the stability of the U.S. economic recovery if the unemployment rate continues to fall below a sustainable level.

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The Markit Manufacturing Flash PMI for September registered at 51.4. That's below the 52 reading in August, but still a sign of expansion in the U.S. manufacturing sector. According to IHS Markit, the United States has seen manufacturing growth for seven consecutive years.

Oil prices were sliding on Friday after Saudi Arabian energy officials said that they do not anticipate that OPEC will reach a deal on a production freeze in Algeria.

Money Morning Global Energy Strategist Dr. Kent Moors says that next week's meeting is about much more than just oil prices. Here's when OPEC will change its strategy... and what the Algiers meeting is really about... right here.

The WTI crude oil price today fell 3.2%. Meanwhile, the Brent crude oil price was off 3%.

But the big news is happening at Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR). Shares of the microblogging site surged nearly 22% on news that it is exploring a sale in the near future. According to Bloomberg, possible suitors of the embattled social media giant include SalesForce.com (NYSE: CRM) and Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOGL) unit Google. Takeover rumors have swirled in recent months as the company continues to struggle with user growth, stagnant sales growth, and a plunging stock price. Shares of CRM stock was off 3.7% on rumors of a deal. Here's our latest insight on TWTR stock.

Top Stock Market News Today, Sept. 23, 2016

• Shares of Valvoline (NYSE: VVV) popped more than 10% in its trading debut on Friday. The company was spun-off from Ashland LLC (NYSE: ASH). It was the fourth-largest IPO of 2016.
• Shares of Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) fell more than 1.3% on reports that the company has been inflating some of its advertising metrics. According to ETF Daily News, publishers and advertisers are outraged that the company artificially skewed its average video-viewing time to a higher figure than actual levels.
• Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) is facing a public relations problem. Yesterday, the firm confirmed that it has been the subject of one of the largest cyber breaches in history. Yahoo said that data "associated with at least 500 million user accounts" has been compromised.
• On the earnings front, shares of Finish Line Inc. (Nasdaq: FINL) gained more than 4.2% after the company matched earnings per share (EPS) expectations of $0.53 and beat Wall Street revenue forecasts. The apparel giant also announced that it surpassed consensus expectations on same-store sales.

Monday's U.S. Economic Calendar (all times EDT)

• Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari speaks at 9:30 a.m.
• New Home Sales at 10 a.m.
• Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey at 10:30 a.m.
• 4-Week Bill Announcement at 11 a.m.
• 3-Month Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
• 6-Month Bill Auction at 11:30 a.m.
• 2-Year Note Auction at 1 p.m.
• Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan speaks at 1:30 p.m.

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