Investing.com - Retail stocks are rolling over in midday trading, in what could be an ominous sign for the sector.
Investors are selling retail stocks overall, with the SPDR S&P Retail (NYSE:XRT) ETF down about 1.6% at 11:55 AM ET (16:55 GMT).
What should be particularly troubling for investors is that the selling is coming after what looked very solid quarterly numbers and optimistic holiday outlook from Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and better-than-expected official October retail sales data.
Walmart’s same-store sales topped expectations, with key online sales jumping 43%, and guidance was in line with forecasts. But instead of applause from the market, shares sank about 2.2%.
And the bearish sentiment wasn’t localized. Home Depot (NYSE:HD), which sold off after its own strong earnings report this week, was a bigger drag on the Dow than Walmart, falling about 2.3%.
And behemoth Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) shed about 1.6%.
This comes after Macy’s (NYSE:M) reporting strong numbers a day ago but ending down sharply.
Some pointed to another terrible quarter by JC Penney (NYSE:JCP) adding some trepidation to the sector, but it’s hard to see how a stock that was already close to breaking below $1 could bring money out of those heavyweights.