Walmart Is Strong on Dow's Historic Day

The Dow couldn't hold on to 40,000 Thursday after reaching the threshold for the first time ever, and it actually ended the day with a modest loss:

• The Dow fell 38 points, or 0.1% to 39,869.
• The S&P 500 slipped 11 points, or 0.2%, to 5,297.
• The Nasdaq fell 44 points, or 0.2%, to 16,698.
• All three indexes had rallied on Wednesday to all-time highs.

Walmart was one of the strongest forces lifting the market on Thursday, rising 7% after reporting stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, per the AP. Walmart's strength could be an encouraging signal for the broader economy: Worries have been rising about whether US households can keep up with still-high inflation and more expensive credit-card payments, particularly those making lower incomes. Target, which reports its quarterly results next week, climbed following Walmart's report, along with other retailers like Dollar General and Dollar Tree. Each added at least 2.5%. Chubb climbed 4.8% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed it had built an ownership stake in the insurer.

On the losing end of Wall Street, Deere fell 4% despite reporting stronger profit for its latest quarter than expected. Homebuilders fell following a weaker-than-expected report on housing starts. They gave back some of their big gains from the day before, when hopes for lower mortgage rates had sent them sharply higher. Lennar fell 2% and D.R. Horton sank 3%. GameStop and AMC Entertainment slid for a second straight day, pulling back further from their jaw-dropping starts to the week. They've been moving more on excitement drummed up by investors than any changes to their financial prospects. GameStop fell 24%, though it's still up 70% for the week. AMC Entertainment lost 11%.

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