Stock Market Today: Live Updates

Wal-Mart shares fell 2.5% even after the retail giant reported better-than-expected results for the previous quarter.

The company earned $1.71 per share on revenue of $164.05 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter. Analysts had expected earnings per share of $1.51 on revenue of $159.72 billion.

However, CFO John David Rennie said: “The consumer is still very hard pressed.”

“And if you look at the economic indicators, balance sheets are thinning and savings rates are lower than in previous periods. That’s why we’re taking a very cautious view of the rest of the year.”

Fred Imbert, Melissa Rybko

Retail giants Walmart and Home Depot are due to report earnings on Tuesday, and they could give investors an insight into how well the consumer is doing. Both companies are scheduled to release their latest quarterly results before the bell.

FactSet data showed that Home Depot’s earnings beat expectations for 10 consecutive quarters. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has outperformed analyst expectations in eight of the past 10 quarters.

Walmart and Home Depot have lagged behind the broader market to start 2023. Walmart stock is up just 3.3% year-to-date, while Home Depot is up just 0.7%. The S&P 500 is up more than 6% in that time.

The Federal Reserve issuance from January 31 to February. The first meeting minutes could be a market-moving event this week, as traders continue to look for clues to the central bank’s next policy moves.

The minutes are scheduled to be issued on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. At that meeting, the central bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points and indicated it expected “continued” increases.

Last week, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said a 50 basis point rate hike could not be ruled out at the next meeting. He also said that he had called for such a price increase at the last meeting.

– Fred Imbert

Goldman Sachs said that many traders who lack the technology are unwinding these positions.

The bank’s strategists note that over the past 12 trading days, buying on US technology names has been primarily driven by short covering “and to a much lesser extent long positions.”

“Cumulatively, short coverage of US technology stocks from January 31 to February 15 is the second largest covering by volume over any 12-day period in the past decade and ranks at 99.5 percent,” Goldman said.

– Fred Imbert, Michael Blum

US stock futures got off to a rough start Monday night. Dow and S&P 500 futures lost 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively. Nasdaq 100 futures also fell 0.2%.

– Fred Imbert