Stocks Opened Lower, Bond Yields Remained in Focus

U.S. stocks opened lower on Tuesday, a rise in bond yields and underwhelming results from Walmart halting a six-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately fell 112.19 points, or 0.44%, to 25,107.19. The S&P 500 was off 5.69 points, or 0.21%, to 2,726.53. The Nasdaq Composite gained 9.92 points, or 0.14%, to 7,249.39.

Oil prices were mixed Tuesday, as lower-than-expected inventories buoyed the U.S. crude grade while refinery maintenance in Europe weighed on oil prices in the region. West Texas Intermediate futures rose 43 cents, or 0.7%, to $62.11 a barrel. Brent crude slipped 46 cents, or 0.7%, to $65.21 a barrel.

Retail behemoth Walmart Inc on Tuesday reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and posted a sharp drop in online sales growth during the critical holiday period. Excluding special items, earnings came to $1.33 per share in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 31. Net income dropped 42.1 percent to $2.18 billion from $3.76 billion.

Home Depot Inc’s (HD.N) profit and revenue beat market estimates for the sixth straight quarter. Home Depot said Tuesday sales at its stores open for more than a year rose 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 28. The retailer’s quarterly net sales rose 7.5 percent to $23.88 billion, beating estimates of $23.66 billion.

U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) raised its offer to buy NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI.O) to $127.50 per share on Tuesday, and said it now has the backing of the shareholder group led by Elliott Management that opposed the previous proposal.

U.S. grocery chain operator Albertsons Companies Inc said on Tuesday it would buy the drug stores that Rite Aid Corp <RAD.N> is not selling to Walgreens Boots Alliance <WBA.O>, in a deal that would create a company with $83 billion in annual revenue.