By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch , Ryan Vlastelica

Walmart weighs on Dow, on track for biggest drop since 2015

U.S. stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday, with investors finding few reasons to keep pushing shares higher following a six-session rally that gave indexes their biggest one-week percentage gain in years.

Market participants are continuing to watch a rising dollar and climbing bond yields, both of which could make equities less attractive at current levels, even as macroeconomic conditions and corporate earnings are still seen as strong.

What are the main benchmarks doing?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 196 points, or 0.8%, to 25,025. The S&P 500 was down 12 points to 2,720, a dip of 0.4%. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 11 points to 7,251, a rise of 0.2%.

Last week, the Dow and S&P 500 each gained 4.3% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-ready-to-hold-above-25000-as-us-stocks-line-up-best-week-more-than-a-year-2018-02-16), while the Nasdaq leapt 5.3%, with all three gauges snapping a two-week losing streak. The Dow's weekly advance was its largest since November 2016, while the S&P's was its best since January 2013. The Nasdaq posted its biggest one-week gain since December 2011.

The Dow and S&P 500 logged modest gains on Friday to manage a sixth straight advance; the Nasdaq slipped slightly.

Opinion:Calm your nerves with value stocks as faster inflation roils the market ()

What's driving markets?

A renewed push higher for U.S. bond yields--with the dollar also higher--was being partially blamed for some of the early investor nervousness. Climbing bond yields--driven by a pickup in wage growth, seen as a precursor to rising inflation--were the spark that set off the market meltdown earlier this month. A slightly strengthening greenback also may prove a drag on equities, with multinationals providing sales and services abroad, the most impacted by gains in the buck.

Bond investors are bracing a wave of U.S. Treasury issuance, which was weighing on prices for government paper, driving yields, which move inversely, up.

Higher yields could increase the cost of corporate borrowing, a negative for stocks. Higher yields may also compete against stocks for investor attention. The Treasury Department will auction $28 billion of 2-year notes, $35 billion of 5-year notes and $29 billion of 7-year notes this week, with the 2-year auction hitting Tuesday.

Read:The stock market and the bond market have struck a truce (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-and-the-bond-market-have-struck-a-truce-2018-02-16)

Bond investors have been uneasy after recent stronger inflation readings lifted expectations for potential more-aggressive interest-rate hikes than bond buyers expected.

No data are on the calendar for Tuesday, but Wednesday's release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting, the last chaired by Janet Yellen, will be combed for clues to the central bank's thinking on interest rates.

Looking ahead, Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker and Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari are due to deliver speeches this week.

Check out:Why the worst may be over in the stock-market correction (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/theres-good-news-and-bad-news-for-investors-after-the-stock-market-correction-2018-02-12)

What are strategists saying?

"Stock valuations aren't cheap, but they're not expensive either, given the earnings environment, where there's growth on both an organic basis and in large part because of the tax cuts," said Malcolm Polley, president and chief investment officer at Stewart Capital Advisors.

"But that's the one monkey wrench that could create an issue: the tax cuts were enacted at a time of expansion, when a recession wasn't on the horizon. If this creates too much demand, that's a recipe for inflation, and the market has been bouncing around on that issue."

Read:The stock market's new 'wall of worry' is built on inflation and rate fears (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-markets-new-wall-of-worry-is-built-on-inflation-and-rate-fears-2018-02-17)

What stocks may be active?

Walmart Inc. (WMT) shed 9.8% after its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share missed forecasts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/walmart-shares-drop-premarket-as-q4-adjusted-earnings-fall-short-2018-02-20). The stock, a Dow component, was one of the biggest drags on the blue-chip index in early trading, and it was on track for its biggest one-day percentage drop since October 2015.

Shares of Rite Aid (RAD) gained 1.2% after grocer Albertsons Cos. said it would buy the rest of the drugstore chain (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/albertsons-and-rite-aid-to-merge-then-go-public-2018-02-20) that Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.(WBA) isn't buying.

U.S.-listed shares of HSBC Holdings PLC(HSBA.LN) fell 4% after the bank's profit missed forecasts due to the collapse of two high-profile borrowers (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hsbc-misses-on-profit-on-steinhoff-carillion-hits-2018-02-20).

Shares of NXP Semiconductors NV(NXPI) rose 6% after a report Qualcomm Inc.(QCOM) will up its bid for the chip maker to around $44 billion, as it tries to win shareholder support for the acquisition, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing sources. Shares of Qualcomm lost 3.4%.

MiMedx Group Inc.(MDXG) tumbled 32% after the biotechnology company said it was delaying the release (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/mimedx-shares-halted-down-23-as-company-says-to-probe-its-own-accounting-2018-02-20) of fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 earnings to conduct an accounting review. More than 9.5 million shares exchanged hands, significantly higher than its 30-day average of nearly 2.1 million.

What are other assets doing?

After a weaker session on Monday, European stocks struggled, while in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index each fell around 1% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-stocks-beat-a-retreat-nikkei-fares-the-worst-2018-02-20). Several bourses in Asia remain closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.

See:Why the stock market may not play dead in the Year of the Dog (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-the-bull-market-may-not-play-dead-in-the-year-of-the-dog-2018-02-15)

(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-the-bull-market-may-not-play-dead-in-the-year-of-the-dog-2018-02-15)The DXY Dollar Index climbed 0.6%, which weighed on gold prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-prices-slide-as-dollar-continues-to-climb-2018-02-20), down over 1.2% to $1,340.10 an ounce. Prices for U.S. crude oil rose 0.4%, while Brent crude slumped 1%.

See:The stock market and the bond market have struck a truce (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-stock-market-and-the-bond-market-have-struck-a-truce-2018-02-16)

Bitcoin continued to push past $11,000, last changing hands at $11,391.86, according to CoinDesk.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 20, 2018 11:20 ET (16:20 GMT)

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