{"id":52155,"date":"2025-08-21T12:07:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T16:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/stock-market-today-tech-sell-off-continues-as-walmart-disappoints-amid-jackson-hole-anticipation\/52155\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T12:07:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T16:07:39","slug":"stock-market-today-tech-sell-off-continues-as-walmart-disappoints-amid-jackson-hole-anticipation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/stock-market-today-tech-sell-off-continues-as-walmart-disappoints-amid-jackson-hole-anticipation\/52155\/","title":{"rendered":"Stock Market Today: Tech Sell-Off Continues as Walmart Disappoints Amid Jackson Hole Anticipation"},"content":{"rendered":"

The U.S. stock market experienced a cautious and generally downward trend during midday trading on Thursday, August 21, 2025, as investors grappled with a confluence of factors including disappointing corporate earnings, ongoing pressure in the technology sector, and heightened anticipation surrounding the Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium. The benchmark S&P 500<\/a> (SPX<\/a>) was on track for its fifth consecutive modest loss, highlighting a period of consolidation after reaching all-time highs last week.<\/p>\n

Major Market Indexes Reflect Investor Caution<\/h2>\n

As of midday, all three major U.S. market indexes were trading in negative territory. The Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average (DJI<\/a>) was down approximately 0.5%, while the S&P 500 (SPX<\/a>) dipped around 0.3%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC<\/a>) also saw declines, falling about 0.1%. This midday weakness follows a trend observed in pre-market trading<\/a>, where futures for all three indexes pointed lower. The S&P 500's current trajectory marks a notable shift, as the index had previously posted a series of record highs in recent weeks before entering this four-session losing streak. The Nasdaq 100 (NDX<\/a>), a proxy for the Nasdaq Composite, has also experienced a significant retreat from its all-time high achieved on August 13, facing concerns over stretched valuations and a potential "AI bubble."<\/p>\n

Market momentum was largely subdued, with investors hesitant to take strong positions ahead of key economic pronouncements. Despite the overall downward pull from major indexes, there was some underlying resilience, with sectors like consumer staples, energy, and healthcare showing relative strength on Wednesday, even as the broader market declined due to mega-cap weakness. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note (US10Y<\/a>) edged higher to 4.33%, reflecting some investor jitters.<\/p>\n

Key Market Events on the Horizon<\/h2>\n

The most significant event dominating market sentiment is the Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, which commenced today. While several Fed officials are slated to speak throughout the day, all eyes are firmly fixed on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech scheduled for tomorrow. Investors are anxiously awaiting his assessment of the economy and any clues regarding the future trajectory of interest rates. Current market pricing suggests a high likelihood of a rate cut at the Fed's next policy meeting in September, with the CME FedWatch Tool indicating approximately 79% odds. Any deviation from this expectation in Powell's remarks could lead to significant market volatility.<\/p>\n

Beyond Jackson Hole, market participants are also monitoring upcoming economic data releases. Later today, the U.S. is scheduled to release weekly jobless claims and flash composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data. These reports will offer further insights into the health of the labor market and broader economic conditions, particularly in light of recent weak labor market data that fueled concerns over the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n

Corporate Earnings and Major Stock News<\/h2>\n

Corporate earnings continued to drive significant stock movements today.<\/p>\n

Walmart (WMT<\/a>)<\/strong> was a major drag on the Dow, with its shares tumbling more than 4% in midday trading. The retail giant reported fiscal 2026 second-quarter profit that fell short of Wall Street's expectations, despite revenue and U.S. comparable sales exceeding projections. While Walmart raised its full-year outlook for revenue growth and adjusted EPS, analysts noted that market expectations were already high coming into the report.<\/p>\n

Cosmetics firm Coty (COTY<\/a>)<\/strong> saw its shares plummet by approximately 19% after reporting mixed fourth-quarter results, including a surprise net loss and weak guidance. Management cited U.S. softness, retailer destocking, and fragrance normalization as key headwinds.<\/p>\n

In contrast, XPeng (XPEV<\/a>)<\/strong> shares jumped 10% after its Chairman and CEO increased his stake in the company, signaling confidence in its growth prospects. Nordson (NDSN<\/a>)<\/strong> also saw its shares rise by 6% after the manufacturing firm exceeded expectations with stronger third-quarter results and announced a new $500 million share buyback program. Corporaci\u00f3n Am\u00e9rica Airports (CAAP<\/a>)<\/strong> gained 8% following an 8.2% year-over-year increase in July passenger traffic.<\/p>\n

The broader technology sector remained under pressure, extending a multi-day sell-off. Companies like Apple (AAPL<\/a>)<\/strong>, Amazon (AMZN<\/a>)<\/strong>, Meta Platforms (META<\/a>)<\/strong>, and Tesla (TSLA<\/a>)<\/strong> all lost ground. Meta Platforms notably reportedly froze its AI hiring amid concerns over spending levels. However, some tech giants managed to tick higher, with Nvidia (NVDA<\/a>)<\/strong> rising 0.6% and Microsoft (MSFT<\/a>)<\/strong> also seeing slight gains. Alphabet (GOOGL<\/a>)<\/strong> also rose 1%. Palantir Technologies (PLTR<\/a>)<\/strong>, an AI data analytics software company, stabilized somewhat, ticking up 0.5% after six straight days of declines. HP Enterprise (HPE<\/a>)<\/strong> climbed 2% after receiving an upgrade from Morgan Stanley.<\/p>\n

Overall, midday trading on Thursday, August 21, 2025, reflected a market navigating significant corporate news and bracing for crucial signals from the Federal Reserve. The ongoing tech sector re-evaluation and the anticipation of Powell's speech at Jackson Hole are expected to continue influencing market direction in the coming sessions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. stock market experienced a cautious and generally downward trend during midday trading on Thursday, August 21, 2025, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,6824],"tags":[6063,95,8844,751,1807,1876,3702,3710,4345,4350,4380],"class_list":["post-52155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-update","category-featured","tag-walmart","tag-nasdaq","tag-jackson-hole","tag-pmi","tag-earnings","tag-sp-500","tag-nvidia","tag-federal-reserve","tag-tech-stocks","tag-dow-jones","tag-stock-market"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}