Retailer shares battered as US stocks fall

Investors pummelled retailers Wednesday, sending US stocks sharply lower after weak Macy's earnings revived worries about the future of brick-and-mortar stores.

Macy's plummeted 15.2 percent after slashing its 2016 forecast, saying it now expects comparable-store sales to fall between three and four percent.

"People don't go to the malls anymore, they buy everything on Amazon or over the Internet," said Mace Blicksilver, director of Marblehead Asset Management. "So we have profound winners and losers."

Dow member Wal-Mart lost 2.8 percent, while Best Buy, Target and Nordstrom shed 4.0 percent or more. All report earnings over the next week.

Near the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,713.00, down 1.2 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 1.0 percent to 2,064.59, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index sank 1.0 percent to 4,760.69.