DOW Drops 1,100 Points as Sales Intensify on Wall Street

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reported its biggest loss since 2020. The Dow fell 3.57%, down 1,164.52 points. This was the lowest close for the Dow since March 2021.

The S&P 500 fell 4.04% to 3,923.68, its worst drop since June 2020. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 4.73% to 11,418.15, the biggest drop in the tech-heavy index since May 5. Back-to-back quarterly reports from Target and Walmart triggered investors' fears that rising inflation would erode corporate profits and consumer demand, and markets began to sell heavily. Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Advisors, said: "The consumer is being challenged. At the end of the year, we're starting to see consumers turn to credit cards to pay for the rise in food prices, energy prices. This will hurt major retail outlets and Walmart tends to be one of them." Amazon's share price fell 7.2% and Best Buy's share price fell 10.5%. Dollar General fell 11.1% and Dollar Tree fell 14.4%. Macy's shares fell 10.7% and Kohl's shares fell 11%. Lowe's tumbled 5.3% after lower sales expectations in its first-quarter report as shoppers purchased less material for outdoor projects. Jack Ablin, co-founder of Cresset Capital, said, "Many companies that rely on households and discretionary purchases will likely suffer losses this quarter because so much discretionary income has been poured into food and energy prices."