US open: Stocks trade lower, Walmart hikes FY guidance

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street stocks were in the red early on Tuesday as market participants digested Q3 earnings from one of the nation's largest retailers. As of 1520 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.86% at 43,017.35, while the S&P 500 lost 0.45% to 5,866.87 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.19% weaker at 18,755.94.

The Dow opened 372.25 points lower on Tuesday, extending losses recorded in the previous session.

Corporate earnings took centre stage on Tuesday, with retailer Walmart hiking its full-year guidance after Q3 earnings and revenue came in ahead of expectations. Walmart now expects net sales to grow between 4.8% and 5.1% in FY24, up from previous forecasts of between 3.75% and 4.75%. As far as Q3 was concerned, the Arkansas-based firm said net income increased to $4.58bn, up from $453.0m at the same time a year earlier, while revenue rose from $160.8bn to $169.59bn.

Escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine were also drawing an amount of investor attention at the open, with Russian president Vladimir Putin warning the US that the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons has now been lowered after Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to use US weapons to strike inside Russia. Under the new doctrine, Russia will consider using nuclear weaponry if it, or its allies, were met with the use of "conventional weapons that created a critical threat to their sovereignty and (or) their territorial integrity".

On the macro front, US housing starts fell by 3.1% in October, according to the Census Bureau, missing expectations for a reading of 1.33m. Housing starts fell from a downwardly revised 1.35m in September to 1.31m last month as construction activity fell sharply across the American south as a result of hurricane activity throughout the period. Elsewhere, building permits fell by 0.6% to a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 1.41m, below market expectations for a reading of 1.43m. Approvals of units in buildings with five units or more tumbled by 3% to 393,000 and single-family authorisations went up by 0.5% to 968,000.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $86.81 3.25% Boeing Co. (BA) $145.54 1.16% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $228.45 0.19% Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $61.77 -0.15% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $321.14 -0.34% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $160.21 -0.35% McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $289.73 -0.47% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $206.97 -0.54% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $169.81 -0.55%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.32 -2.11% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $111.29 -1.98% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $402.46 -1.94% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $152.18 -1.67% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $258.41 -1.63% Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $56.51 -1.40% Nike Inc. (NKE) $73.88 -1.35% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $379.59 -1.27% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $43.67 -1.23% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $582.96 -1.14%

S&P 500 - Risers

Walmart Inc. (WMT) $86.81 3.25% Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $106.22 2.11% DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $18.79 1.79% Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) $495.89 1.48% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $142.14 1.42% Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) $53.36 1.23% Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $74.79 1.22% Healthpeak Properties, Inc (DOC) $21.12 1.20% Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $34.03 1.17% Boeing Co. (BA) $145.54 1.16%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Incyte Corp. (INCY) $67.30 -12.56% H&R Block Inc. (HRB) $55.49 -8.05% CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $7.49 -7.81% Intuit Inc. (INTU) $643.96 -5.13% Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW) $261.82 -3.66% Principal Financial Group Inc (PFG) $83.13 -3.42% Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $9.48 -3.32% Prudential Fincl Inc. (PRU) $124.10 -3.15% Medtronic Plc (MDT) $84.87 -3.11% Bath & Body Works, Inc. (BBWI) $30.52 -2.96%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $62.76 2.34% Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $25.58 1.81% DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $18.79 1.79% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $142.14 1.42% Henry Schein Inc. (HSIC) $74.79 1.22% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $131.37 0.48% Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $281.54 0.42% Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $176.00 0.40% Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $177.48 0.38% Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.41 0.35%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Incyte Corp. (INCY) $67.30 -12.56% Intuit Inc. (INTU) $643.96 -5.13% NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $85.76 -2.83% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $224.63 -2.29% Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $138.18 -2.21% Intel Corp. (INTC) $24.32 -2.11% Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $747.16 -1.95% Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $346.51 -1.94% American Airlines Group (AAL) $14.03 -1.78% Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $177.21 -1.77%