U.S. stocks are falling again, this time after the country’s largest retailer reported profits that came up short of Wall Street’s expectations.
The S&P 500 fell 0.5% in early trading Thursday and was on track for a fifth straight modest loss since setting an all-time high last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 215 points, and the Nasdaq composite was down 0.5%.
Walmart weighed on the market after reporting a weaker profit than analysts expected. Big Tech stocks are under even more pressure to deliver stronger profits amid criticism that their stock prices ran too high, too fast.<
A sharp decline in technology stocks such as Nvidia, AMD, Palantir and Meta earlier this week signaled investor fears that the stocks, which have soared since April lows, are now overvalued, while Washington's growing interference in the sector has also raised alarms.
The selloff could also be a result of investors paring back their stock exposure during a traditionally rocky period for equities, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.
"Equities could be more at risk of volatility amid this week's selloff in AI-related stocks on the back of renewed doubts about AI valuations," said Raffi Boyadjian, lead market analyst at brokerage XM.
"Although dip buyers have stepped in to stabilize the market, it's too early to rule out a further slump in mega-cap tech stocks."
In premarket trading, Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Palantir were marginally up, while Meta was flat.
The market focus is now on the results of Walmart, which reported Thursday that it earned $7.03 billion, or 88 cents per share, for the three-month period ended July 31. That compares with $4.50 billion, or 56 cents per share, a year ago.
Reports from other retailers such as Target and Home Depot earlier this week painted a mixed picture, and now investors are trying to gauge how U.S. tariffs would impact holiday sales later this year.
The Fed's annual symposium is expected to kick off on Thursday, with Powell scheduled to speak on Friday at 10 a.m. ET. Traders are looking for any commentary from Chair Jerome Powell that would signal an interest rate cut in September following recent job market weakness.
Minutes from the central bank's July meeting showed on Wednesday that policymakers had struck a cautious tone and expect the current interest rates to be not far above the neutral level - where economic activity is neither stimulated nor constrained.
That led traders to pare back odds of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in September to 79% from 99.9% last week, according to data compiled by LSEG.
A weekly report on jobless claims, a private report on business activity and remarks from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, are also expected on Thursday.
Among other market movers, Coty slumped 22% after the beauty products maker forecast a drop in current-quarter sales on weak U.S. spending.
CoreWeave rose 1.7% after trading firm Jane Street Group reported it has a 5.4% passive stake in the Nvidia-backed company.