Stock futures moved lower Thursday, a day after the S&P 500 hit a fresh all-time high, while retail giant Walmart slid after issuing a disappointing outlook. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 110 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures shed 0.2% each. Dow member Walmart dropped more than 7% after the company said it expects fiscal year sales to grow between 3% and 4%. The company’s fiscal 2026 earnings outlook, meanwhile, was also below analyst expectations. The weak guidance overshadowed fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that topped estimates. Wall Street is coming off a winning session, with the S&P 500 on Wednesday posting another record high. The Nasdaq Composite and the 30-stock Dow also finished in positive territory as investors shrugged off President Donald Trump’s warning of more tariffs. “We have been using the word ‘resilient,’” Elyse Ausenbaugh, head of investment strategy at JPMorgan Wealth Management said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Wednesday. She added that she expects another high single-digit total return upside from here. “We think that 2025 is going to be a year that investors have a chance to build on strength,” Ausenbaugh continued. “We see more room for this market rally to run.” Investors also digested newly released minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January meeting. The minutes showed that the central bank’s officials last month agreed that inflation needs to come down more before they cut interest rates again. Elsewhere on the economic front, investors will be watching for weekly jobless claims data, which is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. U.S. Treasury yields were slightly lower on Thursday as investors awaited further economic data and digested U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff plans. At 5:50 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury yield slipped more than a basis point to 4.527%, while the 2-year Treasury was down more than a basis point to 4.2614%. Asia-Pacific markets fell Thursday, as investors weighed U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on autos, chips and pharmaceutical imports as well as the Federal Reserve potentially keeping rates higher for longer. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 and broader Topix index ended the day in negative territory for the second day. The Nikkei 225 closed 1.24% lower at 38,678.04, while the broader Topix index fell 1.18% to 2,734.60. In South Korea, the Kospi closed down 0.65% at 2,654.06, while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 1.28% to end the day at 768.27. Mainland China’s CSI 300 dipped 0.29% to close at 3.928.90, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.60% to 22,576.98. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined for the fourth straight day. The index closed 1.15% lower at 8,322.80. Oil prices were little changed on Thursday after rising to a near one-week high in the previous session, as an industry report showing a buildup in U.S. crude stockpiles pressured the market. Brent futures were down 15 cents at $75.89 a barrel by 0916 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 34 cents to $71.91. U.S. crude stocks rose by 3.34 million barrels last week, market sources said, citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Wednesday. Gold prices rose to an all-time high on Thursday, as concerns U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats will unleash a global trade war drove investor appetite for the metal. Spot gold climbed 0.7% to $2,953.12 an ounce after hitting $2,954.69 earlier in the session, its tenth record high this year. U.S. gold futures gained 1.2% to $2,970.7. Gold, a safe-haven in times of uncertainty, has gained 12% so far this year. “The $3,000 level seems to be having a magnetic effect on the market and even though by most considerations the market is technically overbought, it seems determined to crack that magic level,” said independent analyst Ross Norman. “The $2,950 is seen as the last chart resistance before the market elevates to challenge the $3,000 level and it is now looking like a question of when and not if.”
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