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Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq retreat after jobless data, Walmart earnings miss

The Dow led US stocks lower on Thursday, with Walmart (WMT) earnings in focus before the start of the Federal Reserve’s closely watched gathering at Jackson Hole.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell nearly 0.6%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) moved down more than 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also dropped about 0.4%, as the exodus from tech stocks eased.

Walmart (WMT) capped the week’s earnings from retail giants, raising its full-year forecast for sales and profit after its second quarter results showed its low-price push was drawing in shoppers. But its quarterly profit fell short of high expectations, and its shares slipped.

Meanwhile, a continued slide in Big Tech stocks is still a worry, even after the Nasdaq on Wednesday showed signs of a reprieve, coming firmly off session lows as buyers jumped in. Short sellers have reaped over $5 billion from bets against techs as AI fears rippled through markets.

Dimmed rate-cut hopes are also weighing on minds after minutes from the Fed’s July meeting signaled that sticky inflation rather than a faltering labor market is the main concern for policymakers. There was broad support for holding rates steady, despite a growing divide at the Fed.

Amid that rate debate, jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 15 rose to 235,000, versus expectations for 225,000. Continuing claims jumped to 1.97 million, a notch above the 1.96 million anticipated by economists.

The Fed kicks off its Jackson Hole symposium of central bankers from around the world later on Thursday, with the countdown on to Chair Jerome Powell’s highly anticipated speech on Friday. The gathering is taking place as President Trump puts public pressure on the Fed, most recently calling for Fed Governor Lisa Cook to resign. Cook has said she won’t be “bullied to step down“.

LIVE 10 updates

  • Laura Bratton

    The Dow leads stocks down at the open

    US stocks fell lower on Thursday, as Walmart (WMT) earnings came in below expectations and jobless claims were higher than expected.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell nearly 0.6%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) moved down more than 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also dropped about 0.4%, with the retreat from tech stocks slowing.

  • US weekly jobless claims rise to highest since June

    Americans filing claims for jobless benefits rose to 235,000 for the week of Aug. 15, the largest increase since late May. Economists expected 225,000 jobless claims to be filed.

    Meanwhile, continuing claims jumped to 1.97 million, greater than the 1.96 million anticipated, in a sign that Americans without jobs are finding it difficult to get a new one.

    Read more here.

  • Boeing stock rises on potential sale of 500 jets to China

    Boeing (BA) stock rose 1.5% in premarket trading after Bloomberg reported the company is in talks to sell up to 500 jets to China.

    The potential sale would mark China’s largest purchase of Boeing aircraft since President Trump’s visit to the country in 2017. But it’s contingent on trade tensions between the US and China abating.

    Earlier this year, Boeing was caught in the center of the trade war between the US and China. In April, China banned deliveries of the company’s planes during the height of tariff escalation but removed the ban in May.

    Read more here.

  • Disney’s new ESPN streaming service has arrived, ushering in new era for sports and the cable bundle

    Yahoo Finance’s Allie Canal reports:

    Read more here.

  • The tech trade hits pause ahead of Nvidia earnings

    Tech stocks remain on shaky ground after concerns about the AI trade caused them to slip again on Wednesday. And while the tech pullback wasn’t anywhere close to a DeepSeek moment, Yahoo Finance’s Hamza Shaban writes, Wall Street did seem alarmed by a handful of pessimistic headlines.

    Hamza explains the Street’s discontent with tech in today’s Morning Brief:

    Read more here.

  • Walmart stock falls after earnings miss forecasts as US sales, 2025 outlook rise

    Walmart (WMT) stock slid after the big-box retailer’s Q2 earnings fell shy of Wall Street’s expectations, even after its US sales growth beat forecasts as shoppers embraced its low prices.

    Yahoo Finance’s Brooke DiPalma reports:

    Read more here.

  • Jenny McCall

    Good morning. Here’s what’s happening today.

  • Jenny McCall

    Premarket trending tickers: Palantir, Nordson and Coty

    Here’s a look at some of the top stocks trending in premarket trading:

    Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) stock rose 3% before the bell

    Palantir (PLTR) stock edged higher on Thursday before the bell after closing in the red on Wednesday for the sixth consecutive trading session.

    Nordson Corporation (NDSN) stock rose more than 5% premarket after Q2 results beat Wall Street estimates.

    Coty Inc. (COTY) shares slumped 20% in premarket trading on Thursday after reporting results that exceeded market revenue expectations, but the beauty company reported a drop in sales by 8.1% year on year.

  • Short sellers reap over $5 billion on Big Tech bets as AI fears roil market

    Short sellers betting against some of the market’s leading AI stocks potentially made billions as markets slid this week and investors moved away from some of the year’s hottest tech trades.

    Yahoo Finance’s Jake Conley and Laura Bratton report:

    Read more here.

  • Oil prices stay up with crude stockpiles on decline

    Bloomberg reports:

    Read more here.