U.S. Stocks Fall After Weak Target Earnings Drag Down Retailers
2022.05.18 18:02
By Liz Moyer
Investing.com — U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday after a weak earnings report from Target weighed on the retail sector.
At 10:40 AM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 538 points, or 1.6%, while the S&P 500 fell nearly 2% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 2.2%.
Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) shares fell 24% after weaker than expected earnings. Supply chain and freight issues have weighed on retailers, but inflation is also taking its toll, forcing shoppers to make tradeoffs on discretionary items such as clothing and home goods. Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW) shares also fell 2.7%.
Other retail stocks took a hit from the weak numbers. Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY) shares fell 10%, as did Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG). Macy’s Inc (NYSE:M) was down 8%.
The 10-year Treasury topped 3% briefly in the morning session.
Wednesday’s action was a reversal of gains in recent days, though the indexes have been mostly down for over a month.
Oil prices ticked lower.Crude Oil WTI Futures fell 0.3%, to $109.17 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures crude fell 0.4%, to $111.58 a barrel. Gold Futures fell 0.4% to $1,811 an ounce.
Gasoline prices have risen consistently and are now averaging $4.567 a gallon nationwide, about 48 cents more than the same time one month ago and $1.52 a gallon more than what drivers paid last year just as the summer is getting started. Drivers in every U.S. state are now paying more than $4 a gallon.
