Traders work on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City
Traders work on the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in Manhattan, New York City

U.S. stocks dipped Friday amid continued uncertainty over the direction of the economy and ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 305.88 points, or 0.91%, to close at 33,475.60. The S&P 500 fell 29.32 points, or 0.74%, to close at 3.934.29, and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 77.39 points, or 0.70%, to close at 11,004.62.

The monthly consumer price index is due Tuesday and is key indicator on the direction of inflation, which remains at a 40-year high. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates 0.50% at the end of its two-day meeting that starts Wednesday. The expected increase is smaller than the previous four increases of 0.75% each, but concerns are still mounting over whether the Fed's aggressive action to blunt inflation will lead to recession.

Some stocks that declined Friday included Meta Platforms (GOOG), which closed at $142.965, down $1.71, or 1.21%. Amazon's (AMZN) price of shares fell $1.89, or 2.14%, to close at $90.35.

"It's our expectation that we really need to see inflation come down closer to the fed funds rate for the Fed to pause, and we still have quite a bit of delta between those numbers," Stephanie Lang, chief investment officer at Homrich Berg told CNBC. "There's still a bit of work to be done on the inflation front to really see that as the reality."