** Shares of U.S. homebuilders sharply lower and among the biggest percentage decliners in the S&P 500 .SPX on Wednesday, as home improvement retailer Lowe's Companies LOW.N fell following its cautious forecasts

** Lennar LEN.N down nearly 6%, while PulteGroup PHM.N down 4%, D.R. Horton DHI.N down >4%

** The S&P 1500 Homebuilding index .SPCOMHOME off >4% to three-week low and the PHLX housing sector index .HGX off 3%

** Also, shares of building materials company Builders FirstSource BLDR.N tumbles 6% and LOW down >5%

** LOW rival Home Depot's HD.N stock down 3% on the session, after 2% gain on Tues after its qtrly report

** All of the shares bucking the broader trend in the market, with the S&P 500 index last up 0.7%

** LOW forecast full-year sales and earnings below Wall Street estimates, and the company's CEO said consumer confidence is "subdued given inflationary pressures and overall economic uncertainty" during a conference call following the quarterly report

** CEO Marvin Ellison said that "despite modest relief in short-term interest rates and market expectations for additional Fed cuts, mortgage rates remain elevated as a result, a persistent lock-in effect remains in place, keeping housing turnover and new home starts under pressure." As such, he said LOW expects "improvement in housing and home improvement markets to be gradual."

** Even with the day's declines, SPCOMHOME and HGX up about 10% and 7%, respectively YTD. In 2026, LEN shares up about 7%, PHM up 15%, DHI up 9%

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch)

((caroline.valetkevitch@thomsonreuters.com))