Wall Street Slips as Walmart Leads Losses

Wall Street’s three major indexes closed lower on Thursday, with the Dow Jones leading the declines, weighed down by a sharp drop in Walmart (-6.53%) after the retailer issued weaker-than-expected earnings and sales forecasts.

Walmart Q34quarterly report was pretty strong
Walmart Q4 quarterly report was weak.

Walmart’s disappointing outlook suggested weaker consumer demand, adding to concerns over economic conditions. Investors also remained cautious amid Donald Trump’s latest tariff threats and ongoing inflation uncertainty.

SPX

Sector Performance

  • Biggest Losers: Financials and consumer discretionary sectors.
  • Biggest Gainers: Energy and real estate sectors.
  • Notable Stocks:
    • Walmart (-6.53%) and JPMorgan (-4.46%) weighed on the Dow.
    • Merck (+2.43%) led the index’s gainers.

Adding to market uncertainty, U.S. jobless claims rose to 219,000, surpassing the expected 215,000, while the previous week’s figure was revised up to 214,000.

Main Movers and Outlook

Walmart, based in Arkansas, saw its shares drop 6.53% after forecasting annual net sales growth of 3% to 4%, below analysts’ expectations of 4%. Meanwhile, Alibaba jumped 7% after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter revenue.

Carvana plunged 12% as analysts pointed to a lack of guidance details for the year ahead, which overshadowed its strong fourth-quarter results. Birkenstock slipped 0.5% after the sandal maker announced it would keep its annual margin forecast unchanged, despite a boost from holiday sales.

Check out our free forex signals
Follow the top economic events on FX Leaders economic calendar
Trade better, discover more Forex Trading Strategies
ABOUT THE AUTHOR See More
Ignacio Teson
Ignacio Teson
Economist and Financial Analyst
Ignacio Teson is an Economist and Financial Analyst. He has more than 7 years of experience in emerging markets. He worked as an analyst and market operator at brokerage firms in Argentina and Spain.
Related Articles
Comments
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Add 3442

Add 3440