Stock futures moved lower in the pre-market trading hours Thursday as investors navigated news of inflationary pressures affecting business operations.
Futures contracts tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were down 1.09%, while those on the S&P 500 (SPX) edged 1.12% lower, as of 8:43 a.m. EST, Thursday. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) futures fell short of the flatline by 1.16%.
The movement came after the Dow recorded its biggest one-day decline since 2020. At the end of the regular trading session of Wednesday, the Dow slipped 3.57%, the S&P 500 declined 4.04%, and the Nasdaq 100 retracted 5.06%.
Retail giants Target (TGT) and Walmart (WMT) blew up their earnings results on Wednesday, citing a slowdown in consumer demand amid high fuel costs. Investors immediately responded with Target nosediving almost 25% at market close, while Walmart plummeted almost 7%.
This was important because, for the past few weeks, investors have been at the edge of their seats worrying about the onset of a retraction in consumer demand. The movement made the last three sessions of stability look like the calm ahead of the storm.
Elsewhere, stocks in Japan, South Korea, and across Europe all fell overnight, amid growing inflation and recession concerns.
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