Wall Street sinks as bond yields rise, Walmart results disappoint

Wall Street sinks as bond yields rise, Walmart results disappoint

By Sinéad Carew and Avinash P

Thu August 20, 2026  

Just as two good things happened yesterday, two bad things happened today. First and foremost, those long-awaited retail numbers to show the health of the market came in very weak, with bellwether Walmart very much disappointing which crashed its stock down 9.2%. As could be expected, other retail giants followed suit with losses between 1 and 2.6%.  

Secondly, the great Fed buyback that shot the market up yesterday seems to have already fizzled after less than 24 hours with bond yields climbing again and the tech sectors falling as a result. Crude rose above the $87 mark once again prompting concerns about consumer health and resiliency as prices keep rising. Poor Q2 reports ran across all sectors. Even Moderna which surged 177% yesterday retraced 23.5% of that today. Volume was exceedingly light coming in at a measly 9.61 billion, a little more than half the 4-week average of 16.64 billion. 

DJ: 53,463.05  +119.65        NAS: 26,331.09  +41.38       S&P: 7,707.98  +16.22           8/19

DJ: 52,759.21  -703.84         NAS: 26,067.17  -263.92      S&P: 7,641.16  -66.82             8/20

Thu 8-20-26 6:18 pm Wall Street sinks as bond yields rise, Walmart results disappoint | Reuters