Broad range of U.S. stocks suffer fall

Risk-fearful investors shifting money away from retail sector

More than 95 percent of stocks in the S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday. Utilities fell, though not nearly as much as the other 10 sectors, as investors shifted money to investments that are considered less risky.

The S&P 500 fell 165.17 points to 3,923.68, while the Dow slid 1,164.52 points to 31,490.07. The Nasdaq slid 566.37 points to 11,418.15.

Smaller company stocks also fell sharply. The Russell 2000 fell 65.45 points, or

3.6 percent, to 1,774.85.

Retailers were among the biggest decliners Wednesday after Target plunged after a grim quarterly earnings report.

Bond yields fell as investors shifted money into lower-risk investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.88 percent from 2.97 percent late Tuesday.

The disappointing report from Target comes a day after the market cheered an encouraging report from the Commerce Department that showed retail sales rose in April, driven by higher sales of cars, electronics, and more spending at restaurants.

Stocks have been struggling to pull out of a slump over the past six weeks as concerns pile up for investors.

Trading has been choppy on a daily basis, and any data on retailers and consumers is being closely monitored by investors as they try to determine the impact from inflation and whether it will prompt a slowdown in spending. A bigger-than-expected hit to spending could signal more sluggish economic growth ahead.

“To be sure, consumers continue to spend, but many of the top retailers are unable to pass along the higher labor costs and higher prices wrought by a still constrained supply chain,” said Quincy Krosby, chief equity strategist for LPL Financial.

Target warned that its costs for freight this year would be $1 billion higher than it estimated just three months ago. And Target and Walmart each provided anecdotal evidence that inflation is weighing on consumers, saying they held back on purchasing big-ticket items and changed from national brands to less expensive store brands.