The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Tuesday sharply lower, weighed by a historic pullback in shares of Walmart Inc. Walmart’s shares finished the session down about 10.2%, or $10.67, at $94.11, marking the retailing giant’s worst daily point and percentage decline in history, according to FactSet data. That decline weighed mightily on the Dow, exacting a more than 70-point toll. A $1 swing in any one of the Dow’s 30 components equating to a 6.89-point move. Walmart Inc.’s share stumble comes after its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings a share were weaker than forecast. Much of of the Dow’s 254-point drop, or 1%, to 24,964 was tied to Walmart. A pair of Dow components, UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. also delivered a downward blow to the equity gauge. The S&P 500 index retreated 0.6% to end at around 2,716, while the Nasdaq Composite Index finished near break-even at, off less than 0.1%, at 7,234.
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