The S&P 500 hit a three-week low on Tuesday as weak results and forecasts from a bunch of retailers, including Target and Kohl’s, fanned worries about holiday season sales, while tech stocks continued to slide on concerns about iPhone sales.
Apple Inc’s 3.8% fall added to the pressure as the stock that led the market through much of its bull run opened at its lowest level since early May, pushing the tech-heavy Nasdaq to more than seven-month lows.
Early in the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 479.52 points, or 1.92%, at 24,537.92, the S&P 500 was down 45.55 points, or 1.69%, at 2,645.18 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 144.22 points, or 2.05%, at 6,884.25.
Should Apple’s loss hold through the day, its shares would have lost more than 20% of their value, or around $250 billion, since closing at a record high on October 3.
Goldman Sachs trimmed its price target on Apple for the second time in just over a week, saying the balance of price and features in the new iPhone XR may not have been well-received by users outside of the U.S.
Retailers took a hammering with Target down 9.9% after it posted a lower-than-expected third-quarter profit. Home improvement chain Lowe’s Cos Inc fell 2.6% after it unveiled more restructuring plans in the face of worse-than-expected comparable sales numbers. Department store operator Kohl’s Corp shed 10.9% after its full-year profit forecast fell below expectations.
Brent crude futures were $2.72, or 4.1%, lower at $64.07 a barrel. The international benchmark fell as much as 5.1% to $63.36, the lowest since early March.
