US markets end in red amid slump by Walmart shares

21 Feb 2025 Evaluate

The US markets ended in red on Thursday amid a slump by shares of Walmart (WMT). Walmart was under pressure after the company reported better than fiscal fourth quarter earnings but provided disappointing guidance for the current year. Traders were cautious as Conference Board released a report showing an unexpected decrease by its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of January. The Conference Board said its leading economic index fell by 0.3 percent in January following a revised 0.1 percent uptick in December. Street had expected the leading economic index to come in unchanged compared to the 0.1 percent dip originally reported for the previous month. Further, investors also took note of Labor Department showed a modest increase by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended February 15. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 219,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 214,000. Street had expected jobless claims to inch up to 215,000 from the 213,000 originally reported for the previous week. 

Meanwhile, Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed a continued surge by U.S. crude oil inventories in the week ended February 14. The EIA said crude oil inventories shot up by 4.6 million barrels last week after jumping by 4.1 million barrels in the previous week. Street had expected crude oil inventories to increase by 3.0 million barrels. Nonetheless, at 432.5 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories remain about 3 percent below the five-year average for this time of year. On the sectorial front, gold and oil producer stocks moved to the upside on the day amid increases by the prices of their associated commodities.

Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 450.94 points or 1.01 percent to 44,176.65, Nasdaq declined 93.89 points or 0.47 percent to 19,962.36 and S&P 500 was down by 26.63 points or 0.43 percent to 6,117.52.

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