Wall St falls as growth stocks tumble, Target weighs on retail stocks

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., August 15, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Aug 17 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Wednesday with growth stocks under renewed pressure as bond yields rose ahead of the Federal Reserve’s July meeting minutes, while Target’s weak results dragged down the retail sector.

Retail earnings have been mixed so far this week, with Target Corp (TGT.N) falling 2% after reporting a 90% drop in quarterly profit as its inflation-hit clients curbed spending on discretionary goods. read more

The S&P 500 Retail Sector (.SPXRT) declined 1.2%, after rising 1.9% in the previous session on encouraging quarterly earnings from Walmart Inc. (WMT.N) and Home Depot Inc. (HD.N).

The data showed that US retail sales were unchanged in July as falling gasoline prices hit receipts at gas stations. However, consumer spending appeared to hold up, which could further mitigate fears that the economy was already in a recession. read more

“We need to see a real slowdown in inflation,” said Brian Overby, senior markets strategist at Ally. “The retail market space, since earnings were released this week, does not confirm the fact that inflation has peaked.”

High-growth and tech stocks like Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA.O) each fell nearly 2% as US Treasury yields rose for the second session in a row.

Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors fell in early trading, with communication services (.SPLRCL) and discretionary consumption (.SPLRCD) stocks lead losses.

At 09:51 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) down 194.64 points, or 0.57%, to 33,957.37, the S&P 500 (.SPX) down 34.07 points, or 0.79%, to 4,271.13, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) it fell 152.85 points, or 1.17%, to 12,949.70.

Attention has turned to the release of the US Federal Reserve’s July meeting minutes that could hint at the size of further interest rate hikes after policymakers insisted they will follow. raising rates until inflation is under control. read more

Traders see an almost equal chance of a 50 basis point hike and a 75 basis point hike from the Fed in September. FED CLOCK

The benchmark S&P 500 index has rallied nearly 17% from its mid-June lows, with the latest boost coming from expectations that inflation has peaked after weaker-than-expected data earlier this year. month.

Stronger-than-expected corporate earnings also helped fuel a rally in US stocks this quarter, but some investors point to potential risks to earnings that could weaken the momentum. read more

Home improvement chain Lowe’s Cos Inc. (BASSOON) rose 1.2% posting better-than-expected quarterly profit. read more

Down issues outnumbered advances by 6.27 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange and 3.91 to 1 on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index posted two new 52-week highs and 29 new lows, while the Nasdaq posted 13 new highs and 18 new lows.

Information from Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta

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