Shares of Walmart Inc. shed 3.7% in premarket trading, enough to pace the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s decliners, in the wake of Target Corp.’s margin warning. The discount retail behemoth’s stock as one of the 29 of 30 Dow components losing ground. Walmart’s implied stock price decline would shave about 31 points off the Dow’s price, while Dow futures dropped 237 points, or 0.7%. Walmart’s stock weakness comes as rival discount retailer Target shares tumbled 9.1% premarket, after the company announced plans to reduce inventory, including additional markdowns and canceling orders, leading to a reduced outlook for second-quarter operating margin. Walmart’s stock has tumbled 11.9% over the past three months through Monday, while the Dow has edged up 0.3%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.