Walmart Sinks on Lower Guidance; China Worries Weigh on Markets

Worries over China's unstable economy pushed U.S. stocks lower on Tuesday. The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq wrapped up the session in negative territory. This as China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell over 6 percent. The Chinese government injected almost $19 billion into the market - the biggest infusion of capital in the past year and a half. The move was an effort to prop up stocks. This comes on top of its interventions last week to devalue its yuan currency. Meanwhile, homebuilder stocks rose Tuesday, as housing starts in July jumped to their highest level since before the recession. Shares of Lennar (LEN), KB Home (KBH) and D.R. Horton (DHI) posted solid gains. As for corporate earnings, it was a big day for retailers. Home Depot (HD) shares wrapped up the session with a gain of nearly 3 percent, after reporting a 5.7 percent increase in same store sales and raising its sales guidance for the year. But the news wasn't so rosy for Walmart (WMT), which lowered its full-year guidance on the heels of a strengthening dollar and higher wages. Shares fell over 3 percent. Plus, crude prices settled a bit higher on Tuesday, up 1.24 percent to 42.62 a barrel. TheStreet’s Scott Gamm reports from New York.