By Liz Moyer

Wall Street opens sharply lower Thursday morning after disappointing retail earnings, data on unemployment and more disappointments. Wall Street is now open at a much lower level as investors weigh the effect of inflation on American consumers.

At 9:31 am ET the index fell 311 point or 1% while the declined 0.8% and fell 0.3%.

Kohls Corp The department store (NYSE:), which was the first to set the tone early, became the latest retailer in weigh-in and fell 5% in premarket. The retailer joined other major retailers to warn that inflation has been at an all-time high for four decades and is affecting profit margins as well as consumer spending.

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: Target Corporation (NYSE 🙂 announced earlier this week a substantial drop in its quarterly earnings, citing surging freight and fuel costs. It also said that consumers are being forced to make compromises regarding their spending.

The number of orders increased to 218,000 in comparison to the expectations for 200,000.

The Dow dropped more than 1,100 points on Wednesday and is now open for trading. This was its worst performance in a single day since 2020.

After a poor outlook, Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ) shares fell 10% in premarket.

Also, oil prices fell. Oil fell 1.5% to $105.41 per barrel, and 1.2% to $107.84 per barrel. To $1,835 an troy ounce, gold rose 1%