CHICAGO (AFX) -- Retail stocks mostly headed south Tuesday, dragged down by sharp declines in shares of Home Depot Inc. and Staples Inc.
The S&P Retail Index backtracked by 2.2% to 459.59 - its lowest level since February.
Shares of Home Depot , a Dow component, tumbled to a seven-month low, closing at $38.45, off 5.1%, or $2.05. Ahead of the bell, the home-improvement giant turned in a 19% jump in earnings but fell short on sales targets.
That proved overpowering to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s shares 1.4% climb to $48.07. Wal-Mart, also a component of the Dow, turned in better-than-expected first-quarter results, but offered a cautious view of the second quarter.
Shares of Staples Inc. closed lower by 6.1%, or $1.60, to $24.82 after that retailer delivered a 26% pop in profit but saw a sales slowdown.
Shares of rivals Office Depot Inc. and OfficeMax moved in opposite directions. Office Depot shares fell 25 cents to $43.67 while OfficeMax shares include up 6 cents to $42.25.
Shares of BJ's Wholesale Club fell back as much as 2.7% before recovering to finish the session at $29.72, up 12 cents. Ahead of the bell, the discount retailer said its quarterly income dropped 17% amid slumping sales and customer traffic.
On the upside, shares of Fossil , the watch maker, jumped 8.7% to close at $17.49, up $1.40. This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.