Walmart’s biggest drop in 30 years sinks stocks

The biggest drop in Walmart’s stock in 30 years and losses in other sectors pulled U.S. indexes lower Tuesday, snapping a six-day winning streak.

The losses deepened in the last hour of trading into a broad sell-off that erased early gains led by technology companies.

Walmart plunged more than 10% after reporting weak online sales and disappointing earnings. Grocery store operators, retailers, healthcare firms and industrial stocks accounted for much of the market’s slide.

“Investors have been lulled into a false sense that stock markets are not volatile,” said Doug Cote, chief market strategist for Voya Investment Management. “As we go back to normal volatility, you’re going to see what you would expect: normal ups and downs.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, a benchmark for many index funds, capped its strongest week in five years Friday, recovering more than half the losses it suffered in a plunge at the beginning of this month. Stocks began giving back some of those gains early Tuesday as trading reopened after a long holiday weekend and investors began sizing up company earnings while keeping an eye on the bond market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which is used as a benchmark for mortgages and other loans, has been rising in recent months from a low of 2.04% in September. Higher bond yields indicate investors expect more risk of inflation. The higher yields also can threaten stock prices by making bonds more appealing than stocks.

Bond prices were little changed. The yield on the 10year Treasury held at 2.88%.

Walmart sank 10.2% to $94.11, the biggest loss in the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500. It was the stock’s worst single-day drop since January 1988. Investors were disappointed with the retail giant’s fourthquarter results, which missed expectations as the company wrestled with slower e-commerce sales.

Target slid 3% to $72.86. Ross Stores dropped 2.7% to $77.98.

Gap fell 5% to $31.61 after the clothing chain said the head of its Gap brand would leave the company. Jeff Kirwan, who has been with the company since 2004, led the brand since the end of 2014. Gap said he failed to achieve “the operational excellence and accelerated profit growth” it expected.

Genuine Parts slid 5.2% to $94.67 after the auto and industrial parts company gave a disappointing profit forecast for 2018.

Dine Equity leaped 16% to $63.44 after the Glendale company, which owns the IHOP and Applebee’s restaurant chains, posted quarterly results that beat expectations and issued upbeat guidance for 2018. It also unveiled some steps to bolster sales and earnings and changed its name to Dine Brands Global Inc.

Benchmark U.S. crude rose 22 cents to $61.90 a barrel. Brent crude fell 42 cents to $65.25 a barrel. Heating oil rose 2 cents to $1.93 a gallon. Wholesale gasoline was flat at $1.75 a gallon. Natural gas rose 6 cents to $2.62 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Gold fell $25 to $1,331.20 an ounce. Silver fell 27 cents to $16.44 an ounce. Copper fell 6 cents to $3.19 a pound.

The dollar rose to 107.30 yen from 106.55 yen. The euro fell to $1.2336 from $1.2408.