WALL STREET CLOSES LOWER ON WEAK TELECOMS STOCKS

US stocks ended down on Tuesday (Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in Manila), slumping on a sharp decline in telecom stocks and weak housing starts data that overshadowed better-than-expected earnings from Walmart and Home Depot, Echo Wang reported for Reuters.

AT&T Inc shed 5.8%, among the biggest percentage decliners in the benchmark S&P 500. It extended declines from Monday, when the telecoms firm said it would cut its dividend payout ratio as a result of its $43 billion media asset deal with Discovery, Inc. T-Mobile and Verizon Communications also dropped 3.71% and 1.31%.

Eight of 11 major S&P sectors ended the session in the red, with Energy and Industrials having the largest percentage decline, according to Refinitiv data. Utilities were basically flat.

The three main indexes opened higher after Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, raised its full-year earnings forecast and Home Depot reported quarterly same-store sales above estimates.

"The market is bracing for a transition," said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.

"So there's a little bit of de-risking going on."

Wall Street has been volatile in recent days, with investors worried that an overheating economy could prompt the Federal Reserve to rein in its monetary support following a spike in volatility last week after strong inflation readings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 267.13 points, or 0.78%, to 34,060.66, the S&P 500 lost 35.46 points, or 0.85%, to 4,127.83 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 75.41 points, or 0.56%, to 13,303.64.

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