(News Bulletin 247) – Wall Street fell sharply on Tuesday, under the influence of a rise in concerns surrounding the health of consumption in view of the cautious outlook communicated by Walmart and Home Depot.

At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones fell 1.4% to 33,364.9 points, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped more than 1.7% to 11,581.2 points.

Investors seemed particularly scalded, in the early morning, by the disappointing publication of Walmart, which raised concerns about the health of distribution.

The world number one in the sector certainly delivered quarterly results this morning that exceeded expectations, but also revealed prospects that were less solid than expected.

The title nevertheless managed to nibble 0.9% following the announcement of a 2% increase in its quarterly dividend.

The market is also shying away from the results of the DIY specialist Home Depot, whose share price dropped nearly 5% in the wake of forecasts that were again deemed disappointing.

Investors are beginning to wonder if the US consumer, which has held up remarkably well against rising inflation so far, might not be doing as well as they say.

The decline in the distribution sector weighs on values ​​related to consumption as a whole, including the S&P sector index yielding 2.2%, the largest drop at the start of the day.

The statistics published in the morning did not allow participants to get a better idea of ​​the current picture of the American economy.

S&P Global’s composite PMI index measuring activity within the private sector improved to 50.2 as a ‘flash’ estimate in January, marking an eight-month high, compared to 46.8 the previous month. last month.

For the record, it is the threshold of 50 which separates expansion and contraction of the sector’s activity.

This publication nevertheless supports the greenback and bond yields by arguing a priori for further rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve.

Around 1.0675, the dollar is gaining ground against the euro, although its strengthening does not prevent US light crude from advancing 0.2% to 76.9 dollars.

On the bond compartment, the rate of T-Bonds tightened by 10.5 points to more than 3.93%.

Also on the economic front, sales of existing homes fell 0.7% in January to an annualized pace of four million, according to seasonally adjusted data from the National Association of Realtors.

In annual comparison, they are down 36.9%.

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