TheStreet’s Conway Gittens brings you the biggest news of the day, including what investors are watching and why Walmart is closing stores and laying off employees.
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00:00 I'm Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange.
00:02 Here's what we're watching on the street today.
00:04 The Nasdaq hit a new record high on Tuesday,
00:07 and the S&P 500 flirted with a high of its own.
00:10 The Dow also finished Tuesday's session in the green.
00:13 Investors shrugged off inflation data and retail woes.
00:17 Wholesale inflation came in at a hotter than expected 0.5% for April.
00:22 Meanwhile, quarterly sales dropped for the sixth straight quarter at Home Depot.
00:26 Investors are still betting on a rate cut coming as early as September.
00:30 Consumer inflation numbers due Wednesday could confirm those hopes.
00:34 In other news, not even Walmart is immune from shifting consumer habits.
00:39 America's largest retailer is being forced to slim down
00:42 as consumers who flocked to the internet during the pandemic
00:46 fail to return to in-store buying.
00:49 And shoppers feel the pinch from inflation.
00:52 Walmart is closing underperforming stores across the country this year,
00:56 following 24 closures in 2023, far more than the 15 originally slated.
01:02 That's not all.
01:03 It is shutting all of its 52 health centers and closing its entire health division.
01:08 The belt tightening is also happening at the corporate level.
01:11 Walmart is slashing hundreds of office jobs
01:14 and urging remote workers to relocate to one of three major hubs,
01:17 according to media reports.
01:19 Those who don't want to move will have to quit.
01:22 The cuts at Walmart could be a sign of things to come,
01:25 as Walmart is the country's largest private employer.
01:29 Investors will get a deeper look at what's happening at Walmart
01:32 when quarterly results are released Thursday.
01:35 And that'll do it for your daily briefing from the New York Stock Exchange.
01:38 I'm Conway Gittens with The Street.
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