Dow Jones Falls As Walmart Tumbles, Cathie Wood Piles Into This Stock Amid 50% Plunge

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell under a key level as Walmart (WMT) reversed lower despite an earnings beat. CVS Health (CVS) cratered after a big insurer tapped rivals including Amazon.com (AMZN) for drugs. Famed fund manager Cathie Wood snapped up shares in a pharma stock despite a big plunge.

With the market weakening, now is a good time to bulk up one’s watchlist. PDD (PDD), Cinemark (CNK) and Automatic Data Processing (ADP) are potential candidates near entries.

Stocks fell after investors digested more economic data. First-time jobless claims fell to 239,000 vs. 248,000 in the previous week, according to the Labor Department. Economists had expected them to fall to 240,000. Ongoing strength in the jobs market bolsters the case of interest rate hawks.

In addition, the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index came in with a 12.0 reading, showing growth. This was much better than the expected -10.0 reading.

Treasury yields were mixed. The 10-year yield rose 5 basis point to 4.31% while the two-year yield slipped 5 basis point to 4.93%. Dow Jones Market Data says the 10-year yield is at the highest since Nov. 7, 2007, based on 3 p.m. ET yields.

Bears Maul Nasdaq, Small Caps

The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at session lows, falling 1.2%. Moderna (MRNA) stood out from the crowd as it turned in a powerful gain of 7.4%.

The benchmark S&P 500 held up slightly better, but still fell 0.8%. Juniper Networks (JNPR) shined here thanks to a lift of 3.1%.

The S&P 500 sectors were almost all negative. Consumer staples and consumer discretionary lagged the most in the stock market today. Energy was the only area to finish in positive territory.

Small caps were spanked, with the Russell 2000 falling 1.1%. But bears gave growth stocks the worst thrashing, with the Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) diving 2.1%.

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