*

US-listed shares of Alibaba gain after Q3 revenue beat

*

Baxter International ( BAX ) jumps consensus-beating estimates

*

Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ) drops on potential Pentagon budget

cuts

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Indexes down: Dow 1.28%, S&P 500 0.67%, Nasdaq 0.71%

(Updates to mid-afternoon)

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street slid on

Thursday as ongoing tariff jitters and a downbeat forecast from

Walmart ( WMT ) dampened investor risk appetite.

A broad selloff pulled all three major U.S. stock indexes

sharply lower, with the Dow off more than 1% and the S&P 500 on

track to snap its two-day string of record closing highs.

Gold prices surged to a record high, suggesting a flight to

safety amid mounting uncertainties.

Walmart ( WMT ), the world's largest retailer, provided

current fiscal year sales and profit forecasts that fell shy of

analysts' expectations, which suggested dampening consumer

demand.

"Walmart ( WMT ) tends to cater towards consumers who are most

susceptible to inflation and they've done very, very well with

huge demand for their products," said Mike Dickson, head of

research at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"So the weakness in their forecast, combined with last

week's pretty bad retail sales data, definitely gives markets a

little pause regarding the strength of the consumer."

Walmart's ( WMT ) shares slid 6.5%, while other large retailers

Target ( TGT ) and Costco Wholesale ( COST ) lost 1.8% and 2.2%,

respectively.

Walmart's ( WMT ) results also provided a glimpse into how the

company expects to fare under U.S. President Donald Trump's

growing list of tariff announcements.

On Wednesday, that list was expanded to include lumber,

autos, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals.

"You can't talk about uncertainty if you don't mention

tariffs, right? That's been a very volatile headline," Dickson

added.

"Is Trump using this as a bargaining tool? Is he serious

about it? Who's going to be impacted? You've seen a lot of

that."

Recent economic data, including jobless claims and Atlantic

region factory activity, suggested that the U.S. economy is in

solid shape for now, in line with recent comments by Federal

Reserve policymakers.

But some economists fear labor market disruptions are

possible as a result of the thousands of federal employees

recently fired by billionaire Elon Musk's Department of

Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 572.12 points,

or 1.28%, to 44,055.89, the S&P 500 lost 40.99 points, or

0.67%, to 6,103.15 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 141.59

points, or 0.71%, to 19,914.89.

Among the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, financials

were down the most, while energy enjoyed the

biggest percentage gain.

Palantir Technologies ( PLTR ), which provides governments

with services such as software that visualizes army positions,

shed 6.9% after the Pentagon announcement on Wednesday that it

was looking at potential budget cuts for the fiscal year 2026.

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba Group advanced 8.2%

following the Chinese e-commerce firm's consensus-beating

third-quarter revenue.

Hasbro ( HAS ) jumped 13.8% after the toymaker beat

quarterly profit and revenue estimates.

Medical device maker Baxter International ( BAX ) gained

8.5% after the company provided a better-than-expected 2025

profit forecast.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.44-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. There were 93 new highs and 67 new lows on the

NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 1,520 stocks rose and 2,807 fell as declining

issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.85-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 9 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows while

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 50 new highs and 119 new lows.