Stocks slip despite strong retail earnings, Visa drags Dow lower

U.S. stocks took a dip on Wednesday as investors weighed a continuation of strong earnings reports from big-box retailers against lingering inflation concerns.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 211.17 points, or 0.5%, and sat about 1.7% from its record. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 4,688.67 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.3% to 15,921.57. Both were less than 1% from their records. The Dow was dragged down by a 4.7% drop in Visa.

The markets are coming off a more positive day in which all three of the major averages moved upward after economic data and corporate earnings signaled U.S. consumers are ramping up spending despite rising prices. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are still higher for the week, while the Dow is lagging.

“Markets appear to be contemplating inflation, growth, and margins as some of the nation’s largest retailers have reported October quarter results this week that while still good, revealed increasing margin pressures in the wake of supply chain issues and labor shortages,” Goldman Sachs’ Jeff Currie said in a note.

Retail giant Target posted beats on the top and bottom lines, but its CEO noted rising costs may have an impact on the company going forward as it plans to absorb those costs rather than pass them onto the customer. Shares slid about 4.7%.

Home improvement giant Lowe’s saw shares rise nearly 0.4%, however, after the company not only topped estimates from the Street but also raised its full-year sales forecast. Shares of TJX jumped 5.8% after the apparel and home retailer reported a quarterly earnings beat on the top and bottom lines.

“The consumer is spending and engaging in this economy at a level that is beating expectations,” said Keith Buchanan, portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “What’s hammered the market though is that for Target and Walmart, the two biggest retailers in the country from a brick-and-mortar standpoint, the costs of running those businesses are outpacing the strong consumer.”

Walmart on Tuesday reported better-than-expected results, though its shares declined.

The SPDR S&P Retail ETF lost nearly 2.3% Wednesday, but retailers have been encouraged by same-store sales gains driven largely by higher traffic and solid digital growth amid pent-up demand from consumers over the summer.

Still, as investors anticipate a holiday shopping push into the end of the year, they’re grappling with how long the good times can last and what will 2022 look like, according to Buchanan.

“This time last year we were looking at 2021 as the year of the rebound, the year of getting back to normal,” he said. “With 2021 ending on a strong note, there’s more optimism building that 2022 could be better than expected but what are the unintended consequences?” he added, noting the continuing uncertainty around high inflation and Fed monetary policy.

Elsewhere, Tesla climbed 3.2% as the stock continued its rebound from a 15.4% loss last week, when CEO Elon Musk began his Tesla stock sell-off.

Microsoft’s shares climbed slightly to hit a new intraday record as investors rotated out of value stocks — financials were largely down and energy stocks were among the biggest laggards in the S&P — and bet on Big Tech going into the end of the year. Amazon ticked up 0.2%, and Apple rose 1.6%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the major averages for the quarter, up about 10.1%.

On the downside, Visa shares slid after Amazon said it will stop accepting payments made with Visa credit cards issued in the U.K. starting next year. That change came shortly after Visa raised its interchange fees for transactions between the U.K. and European Union. Mastercard, which has also increased its U.K.-EU interchange fees, fell 2.8% with Visa.

Shares of chipmaker Nvidia are 3.1% lower ahead of its earnings report after the bell.

Bath & Body Works, Victoria’s Secret and Cisco Systems are also on deck.