US Shares fall on Walmart profit warning, ahead of Fed announcement

The US shares were notably lower on Tuesday, 26 July 2022, with major averages all finishing in the red, weighed down by disappointing earnings and guidance from Walmart. Meanwhile, market sentiments also dampened on caution ahead of the Federal Reserve Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve started a two-day meeting, and on Wednesday it is expected to announce a 0.75 percentage point interest rate hike to fight inflation. The market will be keenly watching the Fed commentary for near-term triggers. Investors have worried that aggressive interest rate hikes by the Fed could tip the economy into recession.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index declined 228.50 points, or 0.71%, to 31,761.54. The S&P500 index was down 45.79 points, or 1.15%, to 3,921.05. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index decreased by 220.09 points, or 1.87%, to 11,562.57.

Total 7 of 11 S&P500 sectors closed lower, with consumer discretionary being suffered the most percentage loss, down 3.3%, followed by communication services (down 2.1%), information technology (down 1.6%), energy (down 0.9%), and materials (down 0.7%).

Shares of Walmart came tumbled after lowering its guidance for the second quarter and full year primarily due to pricing actions aimed to improve inventory levels.

Shares of General Motors were also lower after auto giant posted a disappointing second quarter earnings. General Motors' second-quarter net income fell 40% from a year ago as computer chip and parts shortages hobbled factory output and drove the company's U.S. sales down more than 15%. The company reported an adjusted profit of $1.14 per share. Revenue was $35.76 billion for the quarter.

Bucking the trend, 3M Co shares advanced after the industrial giant reported better than expected second quarter results and announcing plans to spin off its health care business.

Shares of General Electric surged after the conglomerate reported second quarter results that exceeded market expectations on both the top and bottom lines.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The Commerce Department released a report showing new home sales plunged by 8.1% to an annual rate of 590,000 in June after jumping by 6.3% to a revised rate of 642,000 in May.

Meanwhile, the Conference Board also released a report showing consumer confidence in the U.S. slid to 95.7 in July from a downwardly revised 98.4 in June.

Among Indian ADR, Tata Motors fell 1.64% to $27.55, INFOSYS fell 3.5% to $17.91, Dr Reddy's Labs fell 2.5% to $52.88, Wipro dropped 4.05% to $4.97 and HDFC Bank sank 0.9% to $58.61. ICICI Bank declined 1.05% to $19.87. WNS Holdings added 1.82% to $82.69 and Azure Power Global added 2.4% to $11.57.

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