Target’s stock drop casts a pall over the retail sector

The historic sale of Target Corp’s TGT stock,
-24.93%
casts a shadow over the retail sector, as S&P 500 SPX 90 stocks,
-4.04%
92 Consumer Discretionary and Staples companies are trading lower. Target’s stock was the weakest of the bunch, falling 24.7% to an 18-month low, as well as the biggest one-day drop since Black Monday (October 19, 1987), after a report on extremely disappointing profits. SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF XLP,
-6.43%
fell 4.7% as all 32 components lost ground, while SPDR Consumer Discretionary Select Sector ETF XLY,
-6.54%,
of which Target is a component, also fell 4.7% with 58 of the 60 components down. Among some of the more sympathetic losers, shares of fellow discount retailers Dollar Tree Inc. DLTR,
-14.42%
fell 17.2% and Dollar General Corp. CEO,
-11.11%
slid 12.2%, while membership-based warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale Corp COST,
-12.45%
fell 11.6%. Pharmacy chain and healthcare services company Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. stock WBA,
-8.39%
fell 6.6% and was the DJIA of the Dow Jones Industrial Average,
-3.57%
greater decline. WMT shares of Walmart Inc.,
-6.79%
fell 5.9%, after falling 11.4% on Tuesday due to disappointing results. The two retail winners were shares of discount retailer TJX Companies Inc. TJX,
+7.12%,
which rose 9.1% after lower profits, and Ross Stores Inc. ROST,
-0.28%,
which veered to 2.6%.