Retailers Plunge Along With Market (Update)

Retail shares tumbled along with the rest of the market on Monday, as uneasiness that the economy may not be recovering as soon as predicted heightened.

The markets were dragged down as oil sank and commodities pulled back in the face of a strengthening dollar .

The S&P Retail Index fell 1.4% to close at 327.54, led down by Wal-Mart Stores(WMT). The big-box discounter was downgraded by an analyst at Goldman Sachs on Monday to neutral from buy.

Adrianne Shapira said there is limited opportunity for the company to generate the same rates of improvement as it has seen in the prior quarter, sending shares of the company down 3% to $48.46 in afternoon trading. Rival Target(TGT) also slipped by 1% to end the day at $40.11.

In the department store sector, Macy's(M) experienced the biggest drop, falling 5% to $11.92. Sears slipped 3% to $66.82, Kohl's(KSS) fell 2% to $45.65 and J.C. Penney(JCP) dropped 3.5% to close at $28.15.

Another big decliner was Rite Aid(RAD), which tanked 6.5% to a close at $1.44. Among other drugstores, Walgreen(WAG), declined 2% to $30.47 cents and CVS Caremark(CVS), dropped 1% to $29.98.

There were very few retailers in the green, but one standout continues to be 99 Cents Only Store(NDN), which jumped 3% to end the day at $13.67. Last week, the discounter announced that it swung to a profit in its fourth quarter.

Netflix(NFLX) also rose 1% to $38.16, after the company was upgraded to buy from above average by an analyst at Caris & Company.

Coach was on the positive side of things this afternoon, rising 3% to $26.83. Thestreet.com upgraded the aspirational retailers to hold from sell on Friday citing the company's solid financial position with reasonable debt levels, good cash flow from operations and expanding profit margins.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints