Stocks fell again on Thursday, with the S&P 500 Index (SPY  ) slumping for a fifth straight session, as market participants looked for direction amid more tariff concerns from key retailers. Investors are also looking ahead towards remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday for insights on the central bank's interest rate policy for the final quarter of the year.

The broader market index declined over 0.4% to settle at 6,370.18, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ) dropped over 150 points to close at 44,785.50 -- the blue-chip index was weighed down by declining Walmart (WMT  ) shares following the big-box retailer's earnings report. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (QQQ  ) also fell about 0.3% as mega-cap stocks continued their declines on Thursday.

In the spotlight, Walmart shares fell on Thursday even as the retailer raised its full-year earnings and sales guidance as the company warned President Donald Trump's tariff policies are expected to increase prices and impact lower income shoppers. The company also posted its first quarterly earnings miss since May 2022, driven by expenses including restructuring costs, insurance claims and legal settlements.

Walmart expects net sales to rise between 3.75% and 4.75% for its fiscal year, up from its previous guidance range of 3% to 4%. the company also raised its adjusted earnings per share forecast to $2.52 to $2.62 from $2.50 to $2.60.

During the company's earnings call with analysts, CEO Doug McMillon said the price impact from the tariffs has been "gradual enough that any behavioral adjustments by the customer have been somewhat muted," but added that "as we replenish inventory at post-tariff price levels, we've continued to see our costs increase each week, which we expect will continue into the third and fourth quarters."

Wall Street is also gearing up for remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday at the conclusion on the central bank's annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Outlooks for interest rates cuts at the Fed's next policy meeting in September declined based on the CME Group's FedWatch tool after the minutes from the central bank's recent meeting in July signaled that inflation was a greater concern than a softer labor market to policymakers.

"Several participants emphasized that inflation had exceeded 2% for an extended period and that this experience increased the risk of longer-term inflation expectations becoming anchored in the event of drawn-out effects of higher tariffs on inflation," the minutes released Wednesday showed. Only Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented against holding interest rates at their current range of 4.25% to 4.5% -- the first time two members have done so in over 30 years.

Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack added to the diminishing sentiment surrounding an upcoming rate cut on Thursday, stating at Jackson Hole that "there's a lot of data we're going to get between now and September," and with all current data she would "not see a case for reducing interest rates" if the central bank's meeting was tomorrow.

"My biggest concern is that inflation has been too high for the past four years. Right now, it's been trending in the wrong direction, and so I think it's really important that we stay modestly restrictive to make sure that we can bring inflation back under control," Hammack added.

Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid said in an interview with Yahoo Finance on Thursday that August's jobs report due out Sept. 5 will be "very consequential" to the central bank's September meeting. On Thursday, initial jobless claims for the week of Aug. 15 rose to 235,000, the Labor Department reported, marking the highest jump since May.

On the economic front, U.S. manufacturing activity reached an eight-month high in August due to increased factory activity throughout the period. The S&P Global's flash U.S. composite PMI survey, which measures both service and manufacturing activity, ticked higher in August to 55.4 from July's reading of 55.1.

"A strong flash PMI reading for August adds to signs that US businesses have enjoyed a strong third quarter so far," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, in a release. "The data are consistent with the economy expanding at a 2.5% annualized rate, up from the average 1.3% expansion seen over the first two quarters of the year."

However, the two sectors also reported high monthly input price increases, which Williamson suggests will cause the "consumer price inflation [to] rise further above the Fed's 2% target in the coming months."