Stocks are lower on Wall Street in afternoon trading Tuesday after Walmart warned that inflation was negatively impacting American consumers' spending power.

The S&P 500 was down 1.3% as of 2:42 p.m. Eastern, wiping out modest gains from a day earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 247 points, or 0.8%, at 31,744 and the Nasdaq Composite slid 2%.

Walmart shares dropped 8.3% after the retail giant cut its profit outlook for the second quarter and the full year, saying rising prices for food and gas are forcing shoppers to cut back on more profitable discretionary items, particularly clothing.

Walmart's profit warning in the middle of the quarter is rare, and raised worries about how the highest inflation in 40 years is affecting the entire retail sector. Stocks of other major chains fell following Walmart's announcement, made after Wall Street's closing bell on Tuesday. Target dropped 4.2%, Macy's slid 6.5% and Kohl's fell 8%.

Investors have remained deeply concerned about inflation's impact on company profits and how it will affect U.S. consumers. While Americans' finances are relatively strong thanks to savings built up during the pandemic, those nest eggs are being spent on high gas and food prices.

The major indexes are coming off solid gains last week fueled by mostly better-than-expected reports on corporate profits. Falling yields in the bond market also helped, easing the pressure on stocks after expectations for rate hikes by the Federal Reserve propelled yields higher much of this year.

The central bank is expected to announce a rate hike of up to three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday, triple the usual amount. The central bank is waging an aggressive campaign to stem four-decade high inflation. The expected hike would put the Fed's benchmark rate in a range of 2.25% to 2.5%, the highest since 2018.

Bond yields were mixed Tuesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which tends to move with expectations for the Fed, rose to 3.04% from 3.02% late Monday. The 10-year yield, which influences mortgage rates, fell to 2.79% from 2.82%.

Technology stocks, retailers and communication companies were among the biggest drags on the benchmark S&P 500 index. Microsoft was down 3.5%, Amazon slid 5.3% and Facebook owner Meta Platforms dropped 4.5%.

The losses easily outweighed gains by health care and utilities stocks. Small company stocks also fell, sending the Russell 2000 0.6% lower.

Investors were eying the latest batch of corporate earnings reports.

Shares of automaker General Motors fell 3.1% after the company said its second-quarter profit fell 40% from a year ago, as computer chip and parts shortages hobbled factory output and drove the company's U.S. sales down more than 15%.

The Detroit automaker earned $1.67 billion from April through June, well below the $2.79 billion it made a year earlier. GM couldn't deliver 95,000 vehicles during the quarter because it lacked parts.

Shopify slumped 15.3% after the Canadian e-commerce company said it is cutting 10% of its staff, or about 1,000 employees, as it reckons with an unexpected sales downturn after pandemic-fueled growth.

Tech heavyweights Alphabet and Microsoft report their results after the closing bell, while Meta, Apple and Amazon report later in the week.

WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP, Ohio —

A West Chester man is charged with multiple counts of voyeurism in three separate cases in Butler and Hamilton counties.

Marty Worley, 21, is accused of spying on women and photographing them inside local department stores.

The latest criminal charge stems from an incident inside Target at the Voice of America shopping center on June 2.

A store employee called 911.

"I have a peeping Tom in the store right now," the caller said. "He's very blatant about it. He went up to this one woman seven times. He just took pictures of her right next to a child."

The caller said the man was photographing women and girls' backsides and up their skirts.

"He's just making laps. He's going around to another set of definitely minor girls. He's hunting. I mean, literally, I'm watching him hunt for girls right now. He's going to the makeup department where there's a bunch of little girls," the caller said.

While on the phone with a dispatcher, the employee said he watched Worley take inappropriate photos of a dozen customers. The employee said he couldn't take it anymore and ended up confronting Worley before police arrived.

"I can't let this happen in front of me anymore," the caller said.

According to a West Chester Township police report, two of the victims were 17 years old.

"That's disgusting and blows my mind," said Melissa Juneau, a Target shopper.

Another customer, Alauna Patten, said, "It's creepy all the way around, but girls, 17-year-olds, they don't know about the real world yet and probably never would have expected that."

This week, Worley was charged with voyeurism for that incident.

WLWT confirmed he's also been charged in two other similar cases.

On Jan. 17, West Chester police said Worley spied on a woman while she was trying on clothes in the dressing room at the Walmart on Cincinnati-Dayton Road for the "purpose of sexual arousal or gratification."

Three days after that, in Hamilton County, deputies said Worley recorded a woman in the dressing room at the Symmes Township Kohls.

WLWT tracked down Worley on Thursday.

"I don't want to talk to no news," he said.

He referred us to his attorney, Mike Allen. Allen said because the three cases are pending in court, it was too soon to discuss the case.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Target are announcing the recall of about 204,000 Pillowfort Weighted Blankets due to an asphyxiation hazard, which has caused two fatalities. A 4-year-old girl and a 6-year-old girl reportedly became entrapped in the cover of the weighted blanket and died due to asphyxia at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in April 2022. Target has received four reports of children becoming entrapped in these weighted blankets, including the two fatalities.CPSC and Target, which is based in Minnesota, are urging consumers to stop using the recalled weighted blankets immediately and contact Target for a refund. The blankets weigh 6 pounds, measure 60 inches long and 40 inches wide and have a removable, waterproof, washable cover. The blankets come in eight prints or colors including unicorn white, space navy, pink, blue, gray, buffalo plaid red, blue constellation, and unicorn pink. Item numbers 097-02-0140 (Unicorn - White), 097-02-0148 (Space Navy), 097-02-0361(Pink), 097-02-0363 (Blue), 097-02-0364 (Gray), 097-02-1603 (Buffalo Plaid – Red), 097-02-3904 (Blue Constellation) and 097-02-3905 (Unicorn – Pink) are printed on the fabric tag attached to the removable covers of the blankets.The weighted blankets were manufactured in China.Target exclusively sold the recalled weighted blankets at Target stores nationwide and online at www.target.com. The blankets were sold from December 2018 through September 2022 for $40. Contact Target at 800-440-0680 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT daily to receive a prepaid return label to return the blankets by mail or return to any Target store. Go online at www.target.com and click on "Recall Information," then on "Home Goods," for more information. Target is also contacting all known purchasers directly to arrange returns.The consumer will receive a refund of $40 in the form of a credit for use at Target stores or online at www.target.com, or the amount on the purchase receipt if higher. Consumers can also click the "Products Recalls" tab on Target’s Facebook page for more information.

Banana Boat is expanding its recall of Banana Boat Hair & Scalp Sunscreen Spray SPF 30 due to the presence of benzene, which is classified as a human carcinogen.

Edgewell Personal Care Company says an additional batch of the sunscreen was added to the recall announcement from July.

The products all feature the same UPC code: 0-79656-04041-8. However, they have different lot codes and expiration dates.

Lot Code Expiration Date 
20016AF Dec. 2022
20084BF Feb. 2023
21139AF April 2024
20301CF Sept. 2023

The company says the sunscreen was distributed nationwide and sold at various retailers and online. It adds that it has notified retailers to pull the product from their shelves.

Benzene is not an ingredient in Bobana Boat products, according to Edgewell Personal Care Company. However, the company says "a review showed that unexpected levels of benzene came from the propellant that sprays the product out of the can."

The Centers for Disease Control notes that benzene can be found in the environment due to a variety of factors, including tobacco smoke, vehicle exhaust and industrial emissions.

The agency warns that long-term exposure to benzene can affect the immune system and cause cancer.

Consumers are asked to discard the recalled sunscreen. They can contact Edgewell Personal Care at 1-888-686-3988 for information about how to be reimbursed.

Amazon plans to add 150,000 temporary workers in the United States for the holiday shopping rush, a 50% increase from the company's holiday hiring push a year ago.Amazon, like many retailers and logistics companies, is facing challenges hiring workers and is raising pay, dangling bonuses, and expanding benefits in response to the pressures. The company's holiday jobs this year have an average starting pay of $18 an hour — higher than Amazon's $15 minimum wage— sign-on bonuses up to $3,000 and an additional $3 an hour in pay for certain shifts in some locations, Amazon said in an announcement Monday.Amazon's temporary positions for the holidays include picking, scanning and packing items at warehouses and loading boxes onto trucks.Amazon's business has surged during the pandemic as many shoppers, spending more time at home, increased their online purchases. Amazon has added more than 450,000 workers in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic and now has upwards of 950,000 U.S. workers."It's a very competitive labor market out there. And certainly, the biggest contributor to inflationary pressures that we're seeing in the business," Brian Olsavsky, Amazon's chief financial officer, said in July. "We're spending a lot of money on signing and incentives."Amazon last month said it planned to hire 125,000 permanent workers ahead of the holidays.Other chains are adding temporary and permanent workers at stores and warehouses to meet demand from holiday shoppers.Walmart plans to hire around 150,000 employees, most of them in permanent, full-time positions, while Target is aiming to bring on 100,000 seasonal workers and 30,000 permanent supply chain employees.UPS, Kohl's, Nordstrom, Macy's and others are also adding workers for the holidays. Some are offering sign-on bonuses this year for new hires and other incentives.There are signs, however, that interest in holiday work for some has dwindled.The share of job seeker searches for seasonal work during the seven days ending Sept. 22 was down 1.5% compared with the same time last year and 39% from 2019, jobs site Indeed said in a report last month.

Several national retailers say they’ll continue to require face coverings in their stores even as Texas and some other states lift mask requirements.

Both the Lone Star State and Mississippi announced Tuesday that they’d end their face mask requirements in public spaces and said they’d allow businesses to reopen at 100% capacity as COVID-19 cases dip across the country.

Other states have taken similar actions, despite warnings from public health officials that the pandemic is far from over and easing restrictions threatens the nation’s recovery.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top expert on infectious diseases, criticized these states for lifting their mask mandates, calling the decision “inexplicable” and “ill-advised.”

Though these states aren’t requiring their residents to wear masks, many national stores are continuing to ask all customers to do so, at least for now.

Below is a list of major retailers continuing mask policies:

Target

A Target spokesperson said in a statement Thursday that the company is still requiring its guests and employees to wear masks or face coverings in all of its stores, except for guests with underlying medical conditions and young children. And as more Americans get vaccinated for COVID-19, Target is still asking those who have received a vaccine to wear masks and follow all social distancing guidelines.

Kroger

Kroger, the country’s largest chain of groceries, said in a statement Thursday that it will continue to require everyone in its stores to wear masks until “all our frontline grocery associates can receive the COVID-19 vaccine.” The company owns stores under different names as well, including King Soopers, Ralphs and Dillons. It’s also advocating for federal, state and local officials to prioritize grocery workers in vaccine rollout plans.

CVS

CVS said in a statement Thursday that its face covering policy remains in effect at all of its pharmacies nationwide, based on federal public health recommendations. The company said, “if a customer is not wearing a mask or face covering, we will refer them to our signage and ask that they help protect themselves and those around them by listening to the experts and heeding the call to wear a face covering.”

Walgreens

Like CVS, fellow pharmacy chain Walgreens says its masking policy is not changing. It still requires team members and customers to wear masks, unless doing so would inhibit the individual’s health or if the person is under 2 years old. “We have signage on doors and make announcements over the store's public address system to remind customers that face covers are required,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

ALDI

ALDI, a grocery chain which has locations in both Texas and Mississippi, said it doesn’t plan to make any adjustments to its safety measures at this time. A company spokesperson said in a statement, “For the health and well-being of the communities we serve and for the protection of our employees, we will maintain our current nationwide policy requiring all employees and customers to wear a face covering when shopping in our stores.”

Starbucks

Starbucks will also keep enforcing its face mask requirements for its staff and customers. In a statement, a spokesperson said the coffee company will “continue to make decisions rooted in facts and science and are committed to meeting or exceeding public health mandates.”

Others

Reports from USA Today, Bloomberg and CBS News show additional companies, like Best Buy, Kohl’s, and Macy’s are also continuing their mask mandates. We’ve reached out to them for confirmation and are waiting to hear back.

CDC still asking people to mask up

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is continuing to ask Americans to mask up when in public spaces to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus to prevent any more spikes in cases. Click here to learn more about masking.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart announced Friday that its U.S. stores will be closed on Thanksgiving later this year.

The big-box store said in a press release that the stores will be closed on the holiday as a “thank you” to its associates for their hard work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walmart stores will operate regular posted hours on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and information about store hours for Black Friday will be announced on a later date.

“Closing our stores on Thanksgiving Day is one way we’re saying ‘thank you’ to our teams for their dedication and hard work this year. We hope everyone will take the opportunity to be with their loved ones during what’s always a special time,” said Dacona Smith, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Walmart U.S. in a statement.

It may seem early for Walmart to announce its plans, but closing on Thanksgiving seems to be a growing trend.

Target, one of Walmart’s largest competitors, actually announced back in January that it wouldn’t be open on Thanksgiving 2021.

Both of the retailers were closed on the holiday last year, as were several other stores as COVID-19 continued to devastate the country.

Target said the response to being closed on the holiday in 2020 was so positive that it led the company to do it again.

Many stores will be closed on Easter Sunday to give employees who've been working during the COVID-19 pandemic a much-needed break.

Trader Joe’s announced on its

website

that all of its stores will be closed Sunday, April 12, “to give our incredible Crew Members a much needed day of rest.”

In addition, Aldi, Costco, Publix, Sam's Club and Target also announced that they will be closed on Easter Sunday, The

Today Show reports.

If you forget to plan ahead and need to run out to get something, Walmart says it will be open on Easter Sunday to serve customers.

Here’s a running list of which stores will be open or closed on Easter Sunday. It will be updated as necessary:

Closed on Easter Sunday:

• Aldi
• Costco
• Publix
• Sam's Club
• Target
• Trader Joe’s

Open on Easter Sunday:

This story was originally published by staff at WTXL.