U.S. stock futures slumped on Thursday, following the worst slide in close to two years for the S&P 500.
What’s happening
- Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average YM00, -1.32% fell 349 points, or 1.1% to 31091.
- Futures on the S&P 500 ES00, -1.45% dropped 48.75 points, or 1.2%, to 3874.
- Futures on the Nasdaq 100 NQ00, -1.65% decreased 170.75 points, or 1.4% to 11765.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -3.57% fell 1165 points, or 3.57%, to 31490, the S&P 500 SPX, -4.04% declined 165 points, or 4.04%, to 3924, and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -4.73% dropped 566 points, or 4.73%, to 11418.
The S&P 500’s drop on Wednesday was the most since June 11, 2020. The intraday low of the year of 3,858.87 is in danger of being tested.
What’s driving markets
Target’s TGT, -24.93% earnings miss, a day after rival Walmart WMT, -6.79% also missed expectations, have clearly unnerved investors already rattled by the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate-hike campaign.
“The relief rally trap door sprung when the S&P 500 4000 pins snapped after Target’s earnings results exacerbated some recession fears that continued the theme of rising inventories detailed by Walmart on Tuesday. And the broad-based sell-off absolutely hammered tech,” said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
Analysts noted that Target’s results showed consumers moving away from stay-at-home goods like furniture and televisions. Airline stocks also were caught up in Wednesday’s slide, but the U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS, -3.42% has outperformed the market this year, a sign of rising demand for services.
The retail sales report released this week showed spending at bars and restaurants up nearly 20% from year-earlier levels, or more than double the overall retail spending rate.
Thursday’s slate of economic data features the latest weekly jobless claims report, as well as the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing report, existing home sales, and leading indicators.