Indices fall after Walmart profit warning; Nasdaq down 2%

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

NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday afternoon as the Nasdaq fell more than 2% as Walmart’s profit warning pulled retail stocks down and raised fears over consumer spending.

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

Shares of Target Corp (TGT.N) It fell 3.8% and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) 5.1% fell. Read more

Additionally, Amazon said it will increase its Prime delivery and streaming service fees in Europe by up to 43% per year. Read more

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

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

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

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Co. (KN) It rose 1.9% after the company raised its full-year revenue forecast. McDonald’s Company (MCD.N) It rose 3% after beating quarterly expectations. Read more

A busy week for earnings includes reports from Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O) after the bell. Microsoft fell 3.4% and Alphabet fell 2.9%.

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

The Federal Reserve kicked off a two-day meeting and is expected to announce a 0.75 percentage point hike Wednesday to fight inflation. Read more Investors are worried that the Fed’s aggressive rate hikes could push the economy into recession.

According to Refinitiv data, earnings from S&P 500 companies are expected to increase 6.2% in the second quarter compared to the same period of the previous year.

Amid the week’s heavy economic news, data released Tuesday showed US consumer confidence dropped to a nearly 1-1/2-year low in July, pointing to slower economic growth at the start of the third quarter. Read more

Second-quarter GDP data on Thursday are expected to be negative after the US economy contracted in the first three months of the year.

Decreasing issues outstripped issues that advanced 1.82 to 1 on the NYSE; The Nasdaq preferred those that fell 1.51 to 1.

S&P 500 reported 52-week highs of 1 new and new lows of 30; The Nasdaq Composite recorded 32 new highs and 123 new lows.

Additional reporting in Bengaluru by Shreyashi Sanyal and Aniruddha Ghosh; Editing Arun Koyyur, Anil D’Silva and David Gregorio

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