U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as investors weighed strong earnings reports from big-box retailers against lingering inflation concerns and continued digesting strong retail data.
The Dow Jones Industrials skidded 127 points to open the midweek session at 36,015.22. The Dow was dragged down by a 5% drop in Visa.
The S&P 500 docked 9.7 points to 4,691.20.
The NASDAQ Composite erased 22.39 points to 15,951.46.
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 5%.
Home improvement giant Lowe's saw shares rise slightly, however, after the company not only topped estimates from the Street but also raised its full-year sales forecast.
Shares of TJX jumped almost 9% after the apparel and home retailer reported a quarterly earnings beat on the top and bottom lines as well as a same-store sales increase of 14% year-over-year.
Elsewhere, shares of Dow component Boeing rose nearly 2% after the company received an Akasa Air order for its 737 MAX worth $9 billion. The aerospace company's stock has been a laggard this year, up just 6.5%.
Also, Tesla climbed slightly as the stock continued its rebound from a 15.4% loss last week, when CEO Elon Musk began his Tesla stock sell-off.
Investors await more retail earnings Wednesday from Bath & Body Works and Victoria's Secret. Other major companies reporting results include Cisco Systems and Nvidia.
Prices for 10-year Treasurys regained ground, lowering yields to 1.62% from Tuesday's 1.64%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices dipped 78 cents to $79.98 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $13.70 to $1,867.80 U.S. an ounce.