Dow Jones, S&P 500, Nasdaq drop amid Walmart's muted outlook, AI-related concerns — Details here

US stock market today: The benchmark US stock market indices, like the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite, opened lower on Thursday, 19 February 2026, amid bellwether stock Walmart's muted outlook and investors weighing AI-related concerns.

At 9:30 a.m. (EDT) opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened lower at 49,576.22 points, while the S&P 500 index dropped to 6,861.34 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped to 22,639.87 points at the Wall Street open on Thursday.

The investors were also trading based on analysis of the US Federal Reserve's minutes of the meeting, which suggested that the central bank is keeping the option of rate hikes on the table for the upcoming policy meeting in March 2026.

“Several participants indicated that they would have supported a two-sided description of the committee’s future interest-rate decisions, reflecting the possibility that upward adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate could be appropriate if inflation remains at above-target levels,” according to the US Fed minutes of the meeting.

Walmart results today

Walmart reported a net income of $5.25 billion, or 65 cents per share, for the October to December quarter, while the company's sales rose 5.6% to $190.7 billion, compared to $180.6 billion in the same period a year ago.

Walmart is depending on its e-commerce business to drive growth in a diverging US consumer environment, as the company expects its net sales to increase in the range of 3.5% to 4.5% for the coming year, similar to the initial outlook. However, according to a Reuters report.

A news report from the agency AP mentioned that Walmart expects a volatile economic environment ahead for its operations in Bentonville and Arkansas, United States.

MarketWatch data showed that Walmart stock was trading 1.71% higher at $128.82 as of 10:06 a.m. (EDT) as of Thursday's market session, compared to $126.62 at the previous market session.

Dow Jones today

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading 0.29% lower at 49,518.47 points as of 10:22 a.m. (EDT), compared to 49,662.66 points at the previous US market close, according to the MarketWatch data.

Walmart Inc., Verizon Communications Inc., McDonald's Corp., Chevron Corp., Procter & Gamble Co., Microsoft Corp., Caterpillar Inc., Travelers Cos. Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., Honeywell International Inc., and 3M Co., were among others which were the top gainers as of the early market session.

Boeing Co., Nike Inc., American Express Co., Home Depot Inc., Sherwin-Williams Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Salesforce Inc., International Business Corp., Walt Disney Co., Amgen Inc., Coca-Cola Co., Merck $ Co. Inc., Apple Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were among the top laggards.

S&P 500 today

S&P 500 index was trading 0.37% lower at 6,856.04 points as of 10:30 a.m. (EDT), compared to 6,881.31 points at the previous market close, MarketWatch data showed.

Stocks like Omnicom Group Inc., Deere & Co., CF Industries Holdings Inc., Occidental Petroleum Corp., Super Micro Computer Inc., eBay Inc., Sandisk Corp., Southern Co., Edison International, and Quanta Services Inc. were among the gainers.

Others like EPAM Systems Inc., Pool Corp., Booking Holdings Inc., Ares Management Corp., Carvana Co., Blackstone Inc., Apollo Global Management Inc., Aptiv Plc., Molson Coors Beverage Co., and Accenture were among the laggards.

Nasdaq today

Nasdaq Composite index 0.09% lower at 22,732.05 points as of 10:35 a.m. (EDT), compared to 22,753.63 points at the previous market close, according to MarketWatch data.

Interactive Strength Inc., Allied Gaming Entertainment Inc., C3is Inc., Boxlight Corp., Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc., Remitly Global Inc., Talkspace Inc., Bandwidth Inc., Moolec Science, and Jiuzi Holdings were among the gainers.

While others like Moleculin Biotech Inc., Davis Commodities Ltd, Traws Pharma Inc., Rackspace Technology Inc., Beneficient, Buejay Diagnostics Inc., Avis Budget Group Inc., Strara Skin Sciences Inc., DirectBooking Technology Co. Ltd and Corcept Therapeutics Inc. were among the top laggards.

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Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. We advise investors to consult with certified experts before making any investment decisions, as market conditions can change rapidly and circumstances may vary.