Stocks fell marginally in morning trading on Wall Street Tuesday
as investors closely reviewed encouraging financial results from major
retailers.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% as of 10:25 am Eastern time. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 79 points or 0.2% to 33,991. The Nasdaq fell
90.95 points or 0.9% to 13,037.01.

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Walmart’s shares surged 5.7% after the retail giant
reported strong quarterly results that easily exceeded analysts’ forecasts.
Home Depot gained 3.2% after also reporting better-than-expected results. Both
companies contributed significantly to the Dow gains.

Retailer and consumer product makers witnessed solid gains,
but those were limited by heavy losses in technology stocks. Chipmaker Nvidia
slipped 1.7%.

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Bond yields jumped higher. The yield of the 10-year
treasury rose to 2.86% from 2.79% late Monday.

European stock markets were marginally higher. Asian
markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

Consumers are facing record high inflation for 40 years and
the latest round of results from retailers show that spending remains solid.
Investors have been worried that higher prices on everything from food to
clothing could eventually hurt consumer spending. Target will release its
quarterly results on Wednesday.

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The Commerce Department will release its retail sales
report for July on Wednesday.

Investors closely watching the latest round of corporate
earnings to determine inflation’s impact on businesses and consumers, while
trying to estimate Federal Reserve’s policy.

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The central bank is raising
interest rates in a bid to slow down economic growth and curb inflation, though
it risks hitting the brakes too hard and putting the economy into a recession.
Investors are looking for signs that inflation is peaking or cooling in the
hopes that the Fed could ease its aggressive rate hike policy.