The markets extended its losses during the midday with the Dow dropping 89 points to 19,796. Nasdaq tumbled 40 points to 5,533.
Wal-Mart will hire 10,000 people this year to staff new stores and support its online initiatives. The low price retailer will open 59 new stores in 2017, which is much lower than the 130 stores that were opened in 2016. E-Commerce services will be expanded to include online grocery pick-up. Wal-Mart's plans to open new stores and remodel existing locations is expected to create 24,000 construction jobs.
Amazon will be a retail partner for the Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Online Purchase Pilot program. Recipients of food stamps in Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington will be able to pay for online Amazon grocery orders with their benefits. The program begins in the summer of 2017 and will run for two years.
JCPenney will open Nike shops in more than 600 of its department stores nationwide. The compact 500-square feet shop-within-a-shop will be housed in the men's department. Apparel for running, playing basketball or general exercising will be available in the Nike shops while athletic shoes will be sold next to the in-store shop.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index fell 9 points to 2,264. Bitcoin jumped $72 to $895.
