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August 20, 2026 · market close

Walmart's Slide and a Health Care Rout Pull the S&P 500 Lower

A double-digit drop in Walmart shares helped drag the Dow, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq 100 down together while health care led every sector to the downside.

The S&P 500 closed at 7,641.16, down 66.82 points, or 0.87%, on the day. Breadth was negative, with 159 of the index's 502 members finishing higher. Concentration ran mixed at 32%, and the move looked similar whether you weighted by market cap or gave every stock an equal vote: the equal-weight version of the index fell 0.69%.

Apple was the single largest drag, subtracting 9.24 points as shares fell 1.75%. Amazon took off another 6.41 points on a 2.16% decline, and Walmart cost the index 5.64 points as its shares dropped 9.15%. Eli Lilly and Alphabet's Class A shares rounded out the top drags. On the other side, Micron added 4.51 points after climbing 3.97%, with Marvell, Deere, Broadcom, and Exxon Mobil also finishing in positive territory.

The S&P 500 through the session S&P 500 attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The Dow

The Dow fell much harder in percentage terms, closing at 52,759.00, down 704.05 points, or 1.32%. Breadth was thin, with only 6 of its 30 members higher, and the equal-weight move of negative 1.45% shows this was a broad decline rather than a narrow one. Goldman Sachs did the most damage, taking off 117.09 points on a 1.93% drop. Walmart's 9.15% slide cost the Dow 62.17 points, and Home Depot, American Express, and Amgen each subtracted more than 50 points apiece. Travelers and McDonald's were the only real offsets, adding 13.49 and 9.99 points respectively.

The Dow through the session Dow attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The Nasdaq 100

The Nasdaq 100 closed at 29,213.16, down 212.86 points, or 0.72%, a smaller percentage decline than either the Dow or the S&P 500. Breadth was still negative, with 34 of 102 members higher, and concentration sat at 52%, well above what the S&P 500 or the Dow showed today. Walmart was again the top drag here, costing the index 38.22 points, just ahead of Apple's 37.06-point hit. Space Exploration Technologies subtracted 35.21 points on a 4.05% decline, a name that does not show up in the Dow or S&P 500 contributor lists, and Amazon and Alphabet rounded out the top five drags. Chip names did the heavy lifting on the other side: Micron added 19.3 points, Marvell added 5.52, and Broadcom, AMD, and Sandisk all finished positive.

The Nasdaq 100 through the session Nasdaq 100 attribution map, cell size = points contributed

The sectors

Of the eleven sectors, only two closed higher. Energy and real estate posted modest gains, while the rest of the market fell, led lower by health care, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, and industrials, each down more than a percentage point.

The 11 sectors by move, top contributor named

Energy was the day's strongest sector, up 0.28%. ConocoPhillips led the group, contributing 0.12 points as its shares rose 3.32%.

Energy: what moved it

Health care was the weakest sector by a wide margin, falling 1.85%. Eli Lilly did the most damage, subtracting 0.72 points on a 2.68% decline, and the sector fell more than the industrials, consumer staples, and consumer discretionary groups that followed it down.

Health Care: what moved it

Against the past year, today's move ranked in the 12th percentile for the S&P 500, the 5th percentile for the Dow, and the 22nd percentile for the Nasdaq 100. None of the three qualifies as a large move by that measure, despite the Dow's outsized point drop.

The numbers

From Babylon Burns

WMTMT is brought to you by the founders of Babylon Burns. If you want to stay ahead of the markets, read their recent piece on healthcare while everyone runs: Left for dead: buying healthcare while everyone else runs.

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Compiled by the WMTMT attribution engine from the session's official data · built by the founders of Babylon Burns