20.02.201822:23:00UTC+00Wall Street Retreats as Dow, S&P Weighed Down by Walmart

A sharp decline in Walmart shares weighed heavily on the Dow and the S&P 500 on Tuesday to put a six-session winning streak in jeopardy, but gains in Amazon and technology stocks helped lift the Nasdaq.

The Dow Jones Industrial average ended 254.63 points lower at 24,964.75.

The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent to 2,716.26, with consumer staples losing over two percent. The broad index also closed lower for the first time in seven sessions. Walmart was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500. Kroger and Kraft Heinz, which are also in the staples sector, were among the worst-performing stocks in the index.

The Nasdaq composite fell 0.1 percent to 7,234.31 as a rally in tech stocks lost steam in afternoon trading.

The S&P technology index gained 0.6 as the best performing of the 11 major S&P sectors, bolstered by a gain of over two percent in the semiconductor sector.

Qualcomm fell 1.8 percent after the chipmaker raised its offer to buy NXP Semiconductors NV to $127.50 per share from $110. NXP shares bounced 6.05 percent.

Walmart, the world's biggest brick-and-mortar retailer, posted a lower-than-expected profit and reported a sharp decline in online sales growth during the holiday period. Its shares tumbled 9.6 percent, and were poised for their biggest percentage drop since October 2015.

The report pulled other grocery retailers lower, with Target , off 2.8 percent and Kroger down 4.6 percent. The S&P consumer staples index dropped 2.08 percent and is down almost five percent for the year.

The Cboe Volatility index climbed 6.4 percent to 20.71.