The good news? Wal-Mart edged past expectations with its first-quarter results, released on Tuesday morning prior to the opening of markets. The bad news? The discount retailer said the slower U.S. economy is helping its results, suggesting that the economy is indeed in bad shape. The debatable news? Wal-Mart delivered mixed guidance for the second quarter – not good for the retailer but presumably a sign that the economy could be stronger.
Its shares slumped 2.6 per cent in premarket activity. Meanwhile, April retail sales in the United States were down 0.2 per cent, following a 0.2 per cent rise in March. Most of the bad news appears to relate to car sales though: exclude those, and retail sales actually bounced 0.5 per cent in April, well ahead of expectations.
Ben Bernanke, the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, said on Tuesday morning that financial markets have improved but remain unsettled.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average fell 24 points, to 12,840, pointing to a lower opening when the stock market opens. Futures for the broader S&P 500 fell 3 points, to 1420.
In Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 fell 0.7 per cent and Germany's DAX index fell 0.1 per cent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.5 per cent.
In Canada, Cameco Corp., the uranium producer, reported that its first-quarter earnings were 37 cents a share, well ahead of last year's 16 cents a share.
