U.S. Stocks Fell as Wall Street Closes Lower

On Tuesday, May 18, U.S. stocks fell as Wall Street closed since S&P 500 slightly declined. 

This is due to major retailers like Walmart and Home Depot releasing unexpected earnings together with a sharp slip in telecom stocks and weak housing data.

The S&P 500 tech index was the biggest contríbutor that pulled the benchmark down. 

Alongside, Nasdaq and Dow Jones Industrial Average followed the reversed course, which ended the day impaired.

Among the substantial percentage decliners of S&P 500 is AT&T Inc. which lapsed 5.80%. 

It continues to slip since Monday when the telecoms firm reported that it would cut its dividend payout ratios from its $43 billion media asset treaty with Discovery.

Moreover, T-Mobile and Verizon Communications dropped 3.71% and 1.31% as well, respectively.

Furthermore, eight out of S&P’s 11 major sectors ceased operations in red. This includes the Energy and Industrials which have the vast percentage decline. Meanwhile, utilities remained stable.

S&P 500 adrift 0.85% or 35.46 points while Dow Jones Industrial Average also plunged 0.78% or 267.13 points to 34,060.66. Nasdaq Composite follows with a drop of 0.56% or 75.41 points to 13,303.64.

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve policy meeting minutes last April were released, which made some investors feel jittery.

It is due to speculations that the Fed could probably raise interest rates faster than expected as the inflation pressure in the U.S. is spiking. 

As a preliminary action, fund managers already slashed their overweight positions on tech stocks to a three-year low as the rising inflationary worry left the growth of the stock to a vulnerability pullback.

U.S. Housing Dropped 9.50%, Affecting Stocks’ Fall

U.S. housing dropped 9.50% in April from March. It reached 1.6 million units which crashed from 1.7 million units this year’s first quarter.

It is due to the shutdowns caused by the pandemic that struck much of the U.S. in mid-February, which resulted in paused constructions.

Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, smashed its full-year earnings forecast and Home Depot announced above the evaluated same-store sales. This made the three main indexes unfasten higher.

Despite plausible results, Home Depot shares still slouched 1.02%. This is due to the absence of a solid point of view and housing data.

As shown on the latest report, U.S. homebuilding dropped more than anticipated in April. This likely dragged down by boosting prices for lumber and other building materials.