Stocks turned lower on Tuesday after US retailer Target slashed its profit outlook for the second time in weeks, intensifying concerns about an economic slowdown driven by soaring inflation and rising interest rates.
Wall Street’s blue-chip S&P 500 share index, which has registered weekly losses for eight of the last nine weeks, lost 0.9 per cent in early New York dealings, with retailers sustaining some of the heaviest falls.
Shares in Target dropped more than 5 per cent after the group warned it would have to shift excess stock with deeper discounts, in a move that was expected to lower its second-quarter operating margin to about 2 per cent. The group last month estimated this rate at around 5.3 per cent.