U. S. stock indexes moved mostly higher Tuesday as investors sized up earnings from several big companies. Disappointing results sent Walmart into a steep slide, pulling down shares in other major retailers and cutting into gains from a rally in technology stocks.
U. S. stock indexes moved mostly higher Tuesday as investors sized up earnings from several big companies. Disappointing results sent Walmart into a steep slide, pulling down shares in other major retailers and cutting into gains from a rally in technology stocks. The market, which reopened for business after a long holiday weekend, is coming off a six-day winning streak.
KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 3 points, or 0.1%, at 2,735 as of 12:09 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 61 points, or 0.2%, to 25,157. The Nasdaq climbed 52 points, or 0.7%, to 7,292. Slightly more stocks were rising than declining on the New York Stock Exchange.
BIG-BOX BUMMER: Walmart shares were on track for their worst loss since October 2015 after the retailer reported fourth-quarter results that missed Wall Street’s expectations as its e-commerce sales in the U. S. slowed. The stock was the biggest decliner in the Dow and S&P 500, sinking 9.1% to $95.28. Several other big retailers also declined, including Target, which slid 2.5% to $73.24.
FASHIONABLE EXIT: Gap declined 3.1% to $32.25 after the clothing chain said the brand’s chief executive was leaving the company. Jeff Kirwan, who has been with the company since 2004 and has led the namesake brand since the end of 2014. The Gap noted that Kirwan failed to achieve „the operational excellence and accelerated profit growth“ that the company expected for the Gap brand.
HOUSING BOOST: Home Depot rose 1.4% to $189.63 after its latest quarterly results beat analyst estimates. The home-improvement giant benefited from strong demand for its wares amid a robust housing market and ongoing hurricane recovery work in the Southeast and Puerto Rico.
CHIPPER DEAL: NXP Semiconductor jumped 6% to $125.65 after Qualcomm raised its offer for the company to $127.50 a share, or $43.22 billion, from $110 a share. The move comes as Broadcom is trying to buy Qualcomm. Qualcomm shares fell 2.1% to $63.49.
Other chipmakers were trading higher as part of a pickup in technology stocks. Nvidia rose 2.9% to $251, while Applied Materials climbed 4% to $57.15.
DRUGSTORE BUY: Rite Aid rose 4% to $2.22 after grocery store operator Albertsons agreed to buy more than 2,500 of its stores. Rite Aid agreed to sell almost 2,000 locations to Walgreens last year after a larger deal fell apart. Albertsons owns brands including Safeway and Vons. The deal would double the amount of drugstores it owns. Rite Aid’s stock has shed more than half its value over the past year.
BOND YIELDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.90% from 2.88% late Friday.
ENERGY: Benchmark U. S. crude rose 4 cents to $61.72 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, was down 22 cents at $65.45 a barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 107.19 yen from Friday’s 106.30 yen. The euro weakened to $1.2345 from $1.2413.
MARKETS OVERSEAS: Germany’s DAX rose 0.8%, while France’s CAC 40 gained 0.6%. Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat. Earlier in Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1%, South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.1%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8%. Stocks were mixed in Southeast Asia, while markets in mainland China were still closed for lunar new year holidays. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched down.
UPDATES:
9:25 a.m.: This article was updated with more recent market prices.
This article was originally published at 7:30 a.m.
