Indexes drop after Walmart earnings warning; Nasdaq down 2%

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday afternoon, with the Nasdaq down more than 2%, as a profit warning from Walmart sent retail stocks tumbling and raised concerns about consumer spending.

Walmart (WMT.N) Shares fell 8 percent after the retailer cut its full-year profit forecast late on Monday. Walmart blamed high food and fuel prices and said it needed to cut prices to reduce stocks. Read more

Target Corp. shares (TGT.N) Down 3.8% and Amazon.com (AMZN.O) It decreased by 5.1%. Read more

Also, Amazon said it will raise delivery fees and Prime streaming services in Europe by up to 43% annually. Read more

Amazon was among the biggest declines in the Nasdaq and S&P 500, while consumer discretion (.SPLRCD) It fell more than 3% and led declines among the S&P 500 sectors.

“The majority of companies reporting today outperformed earnings, and that was the case. But of course there were some caveats, and that’s what the market is focusing on,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. .

“Walmart basically pulled the plug, and most retailers were lower across the board.”

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola (KO.N) It gained 1.9% after the company raised its full-year revenue forecast. McDonald’s Corp. (MCD.N) It rose 3% after beating quarterly forecasts. Read more

Profitable week includes reports from Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.O) after the bell. Microsoft shares fell 3.4 percent and Alphabet 2.9 percent.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 239.66 points, or 0.75%, to 31,750.38 points (.SPX) It lost 52.28 points, or 1.32%, to 3,914.56 points, and the Nasdaq Composite (nineteenth) It fell 239.38 points, or 2.03%, to 11,543.29 points.

The Federal Reserve began its two-day meeting and on Wednesday, it is expected to announce a 0.75 percentage point rate hike to combat inflation. read more Investors are concerned that an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve could push the economy into a recession.

Profits for S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 6.2% for the second quarter compared to the same period last year, according to Refinitiv data.

Among this week’s heavy list of economic news, data on Tuesday showed that US consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in nearly a year and a half in July, suggesting slower economic growth at the start of the third quarter. Read more

Thursday’s Q2 GDP data is likely to turn negative after the US economy contracted in the first three months of the year.

Low issues outnumbered advanced issues on the New York Stock Exchange by 1.82 to 1; On the Nasdaq, the ratio was 1.51 to 1 in favor of declining stocks.

S&P 500 set new 52-week high and 30 new low; The Nasdaq recorded 32 new highs and 123 new lows.

Additional reporting by Shreyachi Sanyal and Anirudha Ghosh in Bengaluru. Editing by Arun Koyyur, Anil D’Silva and David Gregorio

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