Wall Street
The S&P 500 fell on Tuesday as a drop in energy led Home Depot (NYSE:HD) lower in retail traders after disappointing quarterly results weighed on stocks.
The S&P 500 is down 0.6%, the Dow Jones is down 1%, or 336 points, and the Nasdaq is down 0.1%.
Home Depot (NYSE: {8064|HD}}) fell more than 1% after reporting quarterly revenue that failed to hit Wall Street expectations, dragged down by lower lumber prices and a weaker start to spring.
“We look at these results negatively, and see an increasingly negative read for Loews Companies Inc. (NYSE:LOW) and home furnishing retailers,” Wedbush analysts said in a note, with the broader retail sector down more than 1% on the day.
Sentiment towards retailers was also hurt by data showing that US retail sales fell less than expected in April, indicating waning consumer strength.
Jefferies said retail sales “tumbled due to weakness in petrol station sales, which was surprising given the increase in prices during the month.”
Energy was the biggest drag in the broader market as weaker-than-expected Chinese economic data overshadowed expectations of an increase in energy demand.
The International Energy Agency raised its forecast for global oil demand by 200,000 barrels per day, to a record high of 102 million barrels per day.
Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO), Halliburton Company (NYSE: {7921 | HAL}}), and Targa Resources Inc (NYSE: TRGP) were among the biggest losers in TAQA.
Technology stocks have resumed their bullish momentum, led by Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), with the latter boosted by advances in the $69 billion deal to buy Activation Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) after it acquired The deal received EU approval the day before.
The approval of the deal from EU regulators is a “gradually positive” to Microsoft’s appeal case against the UK monopoly watchdog, which recently blocked the deal.
Financials continued to weigh on the broader market, though a 2% rally in Capital (NYSE: {8250 | COF}}) helped keep losses in check after buying Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: {20562 | BRKa}}) shares. With nearly $1 billion in the company.
Weighing on the broader market, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated that the US could default on June 1 if Congress fails to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling.
President Joe Biden and congressional leaders are set to meet on Tuesday to find a solution to raise the US government’s debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion.
