Shares decline as Wal-Mart's weak forecast drags on retailers

By Caroline Valetkevitch

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell in late afternoon trading on Wednesday, as Wal-Mart skidded after issuing a weak forecast, dragging down other big retailers, and as JPMorgan slipped after its results.

They are among the latest disappointments as the U.S. third-quarter earnings season gets under way. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have fallen 4.2 percent in the quarter from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Wal-Mart sank 9.7 percent to $60.23, poised for its worst one-day performance in more than 17 years, after it forecast a drop of up to 12 percent in earnings per share in fiscal 2017. The day's decline wiped more than $20 billion off the retailer's market value, and the stock was among the biggest drags on the Dow and S&P 500.

Rival Target was down 4.2 percent at $75.63, and Sears fell 3.5 percent to $24.28. The S&P 500 retail index <.SPXRT> dropped 1.4 percent.

Data on Wednesday showed retail sales in the United States barely rose in September.

"What we're seeing now I think is the market digesting a strong rally," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York. "If we start to see some heavy selling that's not going to be a good sign. Right now the market is range-bound."

At 3:18 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average fell 174.05 points, or 1.02 percent, to 16,907.84, the S&P 500 lost 11.14 points, or 0.56 percent, to 1,992.55 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 16.97 points, or 0.35 percent, to 4,779.65.

JPMorgan shares fell 2.8 percent to $59.86, after the bank reporting reported disappointing third-quarter results following the market close on Tuesday.

Wells Fargo fell 0.7 percent to $51.48. Bank of America bucked the trend, rising 0.7 percent to $15.64 after reporting results on Wednesday.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,770 to 1,213, for a 1.46-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,612 issues fell and 1,119 advanced for a 1.44-to-1 ratio favouring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and four new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 19 new highs and 48 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Leslie Adler)