Page 25 - ARUBA TODAY

BUSINESS Wednesday 21 February 2018
A25

Walmart's plunge sinks retailers, breaking streak for stocks

Tuesday, snapping a six- vestment Management.
day winning streak. "Last week was one of the
The losses deepened in the best weeks in years, and as
last hour of trading into a we go back to normal vol-
broad sell-off that erased atility, you're going to see
early gains led by technol- what you would expect:
ogy companies. normal ups and downs."
Walmart plunged 10 per- The Standard & Poor's 500
cent after reporting weak index fell 15.96 points, or 0.6
online sales and disap- percent, to 2,716.26. The
pointing earnings. Grocery Dow Jones industrial aver-
store operators, retailers, age slid 254.63 points, or 1
health care companies percent, to 24,964.75. The
and industrial stocks ac- Nasdaq lost 5.16 points, or
counted for much of the 0.1 percent, to 7,234.31.
Trader Michael Milano, left, and Robert Charmak work on the floor of the New York Stock Ex-
change. The biggest drop in Walmart's stock in 30 years and losses in other sectors pulled U.S. market's slide. The Russell 2000 index of
indexes lower Tuesday, snapping a six-day winning streak. "Investors have been lulled smaller-company stocks
(AP Photo/Richard Drew) into a false sense that stock gave up 13.56 points, or 0.9
markets are not volatile," percent, to 1,529.99.
By ALEX VEIGA The biggest drop in and losses in other sectors said Doug Cote, chief mar- Company deals offset
AP Business Writer Walmart's stock in 30 years pulled U.S. indexes lower ket strategist for Voya In- some of the market slide.q

Grocer Albertsons eyes Rite Aid deal in health care push

By TOM MURPHY said the deal will help at- care services, which can- deal with cases of the flu, tinue to run Rite Aid stand-
AP Health Writer tract pharmacy customers not be purchased online. sinus infections and other alone stores, and most
The owner of Safeway and who tend to spend more at Late last year, Rite Aid ri- relatively minor complaints. of the grocery operator’s
other grocery brands is buy- Albertsons grocery stores. val CVS Health Corp. said It also has a pharmacy pharmacies will be re-
ing the drugstore chain Rite That comes as the grocer it would buy the health in- benefit management busi- branded as Rite Aid. Al-
Aid as retailers continue to starts to strengthen same- surer Aetna for $69 billion. ness that runs prescription bertsons also runs Jewel-
plunge deeper into health day deliveries, a meal-kit That deal could turn many drug coverage. Osco, Shaw’s, Vons and
care and adjust to swiftly business and other prod- of the chain's 9,800 stores Albertsons said it will con- Acme stores.q
changing shopping habits. ucts that cater to custom- into one-stop-shop loca-
Albertsons Companies ex- ers who want fast service. tions for an array of health
ecutives said Tuesday that Retailers have been push- care needs like blood work
their purchase of Rite Aid's ing home deliveries and and eye or hearing care in
more than 2,500 remaining other customer-friendly addition to their traditional
stores will help the com- services in the wake of ex- role of filling prescriptions.
bined company become a panded competition from In Rite Aid, Albertsons Com-
"leader in food, health and Amazon. The online giant panies is buying a chain
wellness." bought the grocer Whole that has already remod-
The combination will have Foods last year and plans eled more than half of its
4,892 stores and more than to roll out a two-hour de- stores into a format that
4,300 pharmacies with a livery service this year to includes expanded phar-
stronger presence on both customers who pay for its macy services and more
coasts of the U.S. market. $99-a-year Prime member- health products. Like its
Leaders of both companies ship. drugstore chain competi-
Amazon's competitors tion, Rite Aid also operates
also are bulking up health walk-in clinics that can