NEW YORK: U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday, hurt by a rise in bond yields and disappointing quarterly results from Walmart.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 145.61 points, or 0.58 percent, to 25,073.77. The S&P 500 lost 11.56 points, or 0.423099 percent, to 2,720.66. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 30.24 points, or 0.42 percent, to 7,209.23.
Earlier, shares of the world's biggest brick-and-mortar retailer fell 7.14 percent in premarket trading.
Walmart reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and posted a sharp drop in online sales growth during the critical holiday period.
Even as comparable sales in the U.S. market rose for the 14th consecutive quarter, Walmart's online sales grew 23 percent in the holiday quarter, slower than the previous quarter's 50 percent increase.
The retailer said much of the online slowdown was planned as it continued to invest in growing the business but also cited operational problems around inventory replenishment that hurt sales growth.
Excluding special items that crimped profits such as restructuring charges and an impact from offering a one-time bonus to employees, earnings came to $1.33 per share in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31. The average analyst estimate was $1.37 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Net income dropped 42.1 percent to $2.18 billion from $3.76 billion. Consolidated operating income fell 28 percent to $4.5 billion.- Reuters