The major averages closed lower again following Walmart’s earnings and ahead of the Fed’s speech in Jackson Hole tomorrow. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 152 points led by weakness in Walmart. The S&P 500 fell 25 points, dropping for the fifth straight day while the Nasdaq declined 72 points, now down over 2% for the week as investors keep taking profits in the tech space.  

Investors are looking to hear from Fed Chair Jay Powell at the central bank’s annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where he could offer insights into the path of interest rates. Fed funds futures are pricing in a nearly 80% likelihood of the central bank cutting rates at its next policy gathering in September, according to CME’s FedWatch tool. The 10-year Treasury yield rose over 3 basis points to 4.32%. The 2-year yield rose 4 basis points to 3.79%.

On the earnings front, Walmart was a dog down 4% after the retailer beat Wall Street’s quarterly sales estimates but missed earnings expectations, the first time it missed on quarterly earnings since May 2022. Walmart is also facing higher costs due in part to tariffs. Walmart’s earnings follow disappointing results from Target yesterday.

The tech space continues to sell off. The chip and software space have been weak this week. Palantir is modestly higher for the first time in five trading days. Analog Devices is the lone bright spot in the chip space, up nearly 2% after rising 6% on earnings the other day.

Healthcare has perked up as of late. Merck, Pfizer and UnitedHealth Group are up over a percent today.

In the commodity space, oil is up a percent, gold is flat while crypto currencies are lower.

On the week, the S&P 500 is down 1%, the Dow Jones is modestly lower while the Nasdaq is down 2%.

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