Why Home Depot And Lowe's Shares Are Falling Today

The Home Depot Inc HD and Lowe's Companies Inc LOW are trading lower amid overall market weakness. Stocks across sectors fell Friday following data showing a drop in U.S. retail sales as well as weaker-than-expected bank earnings. Fed tapering concerns have also impacted housing-related stocks. 

Retail sales fell by 1.9% in December, declining much more than the estimates for a 0.1% drop. Excluding auto sales, retail sales fell 2.3%, which was also much worse than estimates for a 0.3% rise.

The consumer price index increased by 0.5% for the month, which brought the total gain to 7% year-over-year, representing the highest levels since 1982.

The Federal Reserve has been stressing the importance of cooling inflation, with multiple policymakers signaling they expect to start raising rates as soon as March. A rise in rates could impact mortgage demand, which could weigh on housing-related sectors.

See Also: Why Disney Shares Are Falling Today

Home Depot and Lowe's are the two largest home improvement specialty retailers in the world.

HD, LOW Price Action: At time of publication, Home Depot was down 3.70% at $372.61 and Lowe's was down 3.44% at $372.61.

Posted In: NewsEcon #sMoversTrading Ideaswhy it's moving
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!

Loading...