US stocks: Wall Street sinks as bond yields rise, Walmart results disappoint
The Nasdaq closed over 3 per cent below its Jun 2 record finish
On Thursday (Aug 20), US stocks experienced a decline as rising bond yields and disappointing Walmart results dampened investor sentiment. The main US equity indexes, including the Nasdaq, S&P 500, and Dow Jones Industrial Average, all closed lower. Walmart's stock dropped 9.2% after missing Wall Street expectations for quarterly comparable sales, as high petrol prices led to cautious consumer spending.
This performance adversely affected the S&P 500 consumer staples and consumer discretionary sectors, among the weakest of the benchmark's 11 major industry indexes. Retail rivals like Costco, Dollar Tree, and Albertsons also suffered losses. Rising oil prices, breaching $87 per barrel, further fueled concerns about the US consumer's resilience amid inflationary pressures.
Despite Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's announcement of increased bond repurchase volumes to curb yield growth, bond yields continued to rise, further unsettling Wall Street.
Written by urgent.news from The Business Times - Companies & Markets's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
