Stock Market Slumps as Fed Minutes Loom - Retail Earnings Under Microscope on August 20, 2025

Traders hit the brakes hard as futures slide ahead of critical economic data drops.

Retail Sector Under Pressure

Major retailers reporting this week face brutal scrutiny amid weakening consumer sentiment. Earnings calls transform into confessionals as executives brace for analyst grilling.

Fed Watching Intensifies

Minutes release threatens to expose policymaker divisions on rate trajectory. Market hangs on every dovish or hawkish hint—because apparently central bank tea leaves beat actual fundamentals these days.

Meanwhile, crypto markets quietly notch another 5% gain while traditional finance obsesses over backward-looking data. Some things never change—except which asset class actually delivers returns.

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In Tuesday’s trading session, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 0.59% and 1.46%, respectively. In contrast, the Dow posted a slight gain of 0.02%, supported by a post-earnings rally in Home Depot (HD) shares.

Home Depot stock jumped over 4% yesterday despite missing Q2 earnings and sales expectations. Analysts had largely expected the miss and were more focused on Home Depot’s forecast, which it kept unchanged.

On the economic front, markets are awaiting the release of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes this afternoon, along with a speech from Christopher Waller, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Waller was one of two governors who dissented from the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates steady in July.

Turning to the earnings season, major retailers including Target (TGT), Lowe’s (LOW), and TJX (TJX) are scheduled to report today.

Meanwhile, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was up, floating NEAR 4.30%. WTI crude oil futures were trending higher, hovering near $63.00 per barrel as of the last check. Additionally, the Gold Spot U.S. dollar price increased to nearly $3,366 per ounce on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, European stocks opened lower after defense stocks declined on Optimism following the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, which bolstered hopes for peace in Ukraine. Moreover, the UK’s inflation reading for July came in hotter-than-expected at 3.8%.

Asia-Pacific Markets Traded Mixed Today

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed today after China left its lending rate unchanged, in line with expectations. Meanwhile, Japan’s trade data showed a 2.6% year-over-year decline in exports for July, marking the steepest fall in more than four years.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ROSE by 0.17%. In China, the Shanghai Composite advanced 1.04%, while the Shenzhen Component added 0.89%. In contrast, Japan’s Nikkei declined 1.51%, and the Topix fell 0.57%.