news/AAPL/2023.02.21/Wall St set for lower open as Walmart, Home Depot forecasts disappoint.txt

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)*Walmart, Home Depot fall as FY profit forecast disappoints*Meta Platforms rises as Facebook tests subscription
service*Futures down: Dow 0.84%, S&P 0.72%, Nasdaq 0.95%Feb 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main stock indexes were
set to open lower on Tuesday as retailers Walmart and Home Depot
delivered a double blow to traders returning after a long
weekend amid worries that interest rates will remain higher for
longer.Walmart, the world's largest retailer, shed 3.7% in
premarket trading as it forecast full-year earnings below
estimates and said consumers were likely to continue shopping
for lower-priced items that could pressure its margins."Walmart is a bellweather for how the consumer is doing and
the fact is that they envision that the consumer may be getting
to that point of having to pull back," said Art Hogan, chief
market strategist at B Riley Wealth.Home Depot dropped 4.0% as the home improvement chain
forecast annual profit below estimates due to higher
supply-chain costs and weak demand.Smaller rival Lowe's Cos Inc, which is expected to
post results next week, was down 2.9%.The U.S. stock market got a lift this year from its worst
annual showing in more than a decade in 2022, as investors were
hopeful that the central bank's rate hiking cycle was nearing
its end.However, recent economic data has pointed to a resilient
economy with inflation far from the Fed's 2% target, raising
bets for two or three more 25 basis point hikes amid dwindling
hopes of rate cuts at year-end.Money market participants see the benchmark level peaking to
a 5.3% in July, and staying near those levels throughout the
year.At 7:54 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 285 points,
or 0.84%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 29.5 points, or
0.72%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 117.25 points,
or 0.95%.Yield on the U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury note
edged higher, in turn pressuring rate-sensitive
growth stocks.Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp
and Google-parent Alphabet Inc fell between
1% and 1.5%.Traders find government bonds as a safe alternative to
investments in riskier assets like megacap firms.In a bright spot, Meta Platforms Inc added 1.4%
after the Facebook parent said it is testing a monthly
subscription service called Meta Verified, which will let users
verify their accounts using a government ID and get a blue
badge.Traders are awaiting business activity data for February
at 9:45 a.m. ET. The S&P Global Flash U.S. Composite Output
Index is expected to rise to 47.5 as per a Reuters poll from a
46.8 in the previous month.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Medha Singh in Bengaluru;
Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)