Fierce sell-off, US stocks fell on a large scale

The sell-off activity returned, causing US stocks fell into decline in the session last night (Vietnam time) after another retail giant warned of increasing cost pressure. Worries about inflation have had a more obvious impact than ever on businesses and consumers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 1,164 points (or 3.57%), its biggest drop since June 2020 and its lowest since March 2021.

The broad S&P 500 index fell even more sharply, losing 4.04%. While the Nasdaq Composite Technology Index fell 4.73%.

The sell-off was so widespread on Wall Street that only 8 out of 500 S&P 500 stocks remained in the green.

Selling pressure returned after two major retail giants Target and Walmart announced quarterly business results and raised concerns about inflation that will erode corporate profits and reduce spending power of consumers.

“Consumers are challenged,” said Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Advisors. “We are already starting to see that by the end of the year consumers will be turning to credit cards to pay for groceries, food, energy, which are seeing huge increases in prices. And that’s actually much worse.”… This is going to hurt the retail giants, and Walmart tends to be one of them.

Shares of retail giant Target fell 24.9% on Wednesday after the company reported a much deeper-than-expected first-quarter profit, driven by rising costs.

Walmart is in a similar situation. Walmart shares fell 6.8% last night. In the last two sessions, Walmart stock has dropped 13%.

Other retailers are also in the red. Best Buy, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Macy’s, Kohl’s shares all fell more than 10%.

M. Ha