U.S. stocks headed into a fifth straight day of losses on Thursday, the longest slide since the turn of the year, after retail bellwether

Walmart Inc.

posted a rare profit miss and as jobless claims came in higher than expected.

The S&P 500 index sank 0.3 per cent lower after the open on Thursday, led by the consumer discretionary and consumer staples sectors. Shares of Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, slid after profits fell short of expectations for the first time in three years. The Nasdaq 100 index declined 0.3 per cent. The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Index retreated 0.4 per cent.

Applications for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to their highest since June. Amid signs of weakness in the job market, traders are waiting for indications by

Federal Reserve

Chair Jerome Powell whether the central bank will cut interest rates as soon as next month. Megacap tech stocks have sparked a rout in key indexes over the past several days, causing the S&P 500 to shed about US$660 billion in value over that span.

“Bull markets don’t die of old age, they die of fright,” Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA, said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Thursday.

To be sure, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s trading desk said the losses in high-flying momentum stocks may present a dip-buying opportunity.

Roughly 65 per cent of S&P 500 constituents are holding above their 200-day moving averages, which is “still bullish,” according to LPL Financial Chief Technical Strategist Adam Turnquist. But “it is not commensurate with breadth readings when the market is in record high territory.”

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Amid the selloff and cooling labor market, investors are monitoring the Fed retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Although there are signs the labour market is softening, inflation readings have come in elevated.

“Markets are overly confident in their expectations” for rate cuts by the Fed in September because the data ahead of the symposium “are not clear on the need for an immediate cut,” Stefano Pascale, a Barclays Capital Inc. global equity derivatives strategist, wrote in a Thursday note. He warned investors to be on the lookout for the “Jackson Hawk.”

Ahead of Powell’s speech, Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid said in an interview that aired Thursday that “modestly restrictive” rates at the moment have the Fed “on a good path.” Meanwhile, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he sees one rate cut this year.

On Wednesday, equities dipped after minutes from the last Fed meeting in July showed the majority of members saw upside inflation risks outweighing risks to the labor market.

—With assistance from Natalia Kniazhevich.

Bloomberg.com