Indices fall after Walmart profit warning; The Nasdaq fell 2%

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

NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell sharply on Tuesday afternoon, with the Nasdaq falling more than 2%, as Walmart’s profit warning dragged down retail stocks and fueled fears about 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 had to cut prices to adjust inventory. read more

Shares of Target Corp (TGT.N) Amazon.com Inc. fell 3.8% (AMZN.O) decreased by 5.1%. read more

Also, Amazon has announced that it will raise fees for delivery and streaming services in Europe by up to 43% annually. read more

Amazon is one of the biggest drags on the Nasdaq and S&P 500, while consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) It fell more than 3% and led the S&P 500 sector to decline.

“Most of the companies have made earnings today, that’s true. But of course there are some caveats, the market is paying attention,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. .

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

Meanwhile, Coca-Cola Co (KO.N) The company gained 1.9% after raising its full-year revenue forecast. McDonald’s Corp (mctn) The quarter rose 3%, beating expectations. read more

A busy week for earnings, including reports from Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) After the bell rings. 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) The Nasdaq Composite lost 52.28 points, or 1.32%, to 3,914.56. (.IXIC) It was down 239.38 points or 2.03% to 11,543.29.

The Federal Reserve began its two-day meeting on Wednesday and is expected to announce a 0.75 percent interest rate hike to combat inflation. Read More Investors are concerned that aggressive interest rate hikes by the central bank could push the economy into recession.

According to Refinitiv data, earnings at S&P 500 companies are expected to have risen 6.2% in the second quarter from a year earlier.

In the week’s tough economic news, data on Tuesday showed U.S. consumer confidence fell to a nearly 1-1/2-year low in July, pointing to slower economic growth at the start of the third quarter. read more

After the U.S. economy shrank in the first three months of the year, second-quarter GDP data advanced on Thursday will be negative.

Declining issues outnumber advancing issues on the NYSE by a 1.82-to-1 ratio; On the Nasdaq, a 1.51-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

S&P 500 1 new 52-week high and 30 new low; The Nasdaq Composite posted 32 new highs and 123 new lows.

Additional reporting by Sreyashi Sanyal and Aniruddha Ghosh in Bangalore; Editing by Arun Coeur, Anil de Silva and David Gregorio

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