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New York stock market plummeted to such an extent that it was said that it was the worst in two years since 2020, the early days of the corona crisis.

This is because fears of an economic recession have grown as major major US retailers have performed poorly.



Correspondent Kim Jong-won from New York.



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Wal-Mart, the largest retail chain in the United States, has significantly lowered its forecast for net profit to fall 1% from last year, citing pressure on distribution costs due to supply chain disruptions.



Then yesterday (18th), Walmart shares plunged more than 11%, the largest decline since 1987.



Target, another large US retail chain, also reported earnings, and despite higher-than-expected sales, net profit fell short of market expectations.



[Liz Miller/CEO of Summit Place Investment Company: The sales of the distribution chain 'Target' were good, but the net profit was not enough to say that it was shattered and it was very shrunken.

This suggests that the cost of inflation was higher than expected.]



Retailers' poor performance due to inflation led to recession concerns that consumers could close their wallets, and the New York Stock Exchange plunged today.



The Dow Jones fell 1,160 points, or more than 3.5%, its biggest decline since June 2020, when the U.S. economy was locked down due to the coronavirus.



The tech-focused Nasdaq also fell nearly 5%, and today's Wall Street is talking about the worst day in two years.



On the other hand, the UK's consumer price inflation rate rose to 9% in April, the highest in 40 years, raising fears of inflation.



European stock markets all fell by 1% today on fears of rapid inflation and a recession.