Wall Street markets opened mixed on Thursday as Apple slid more than 10 percent following a revenue miss, and analysts said equities may be due for a pullback after a six-day rally.
Apple missed Wall Street’s revenue forecast for a third consecutive quarter after iPhone sales came in below expectations, fanning fears that its dominance of consumer electronics was slipping. The shares began falling in premarket trading, and were down 11 percent, to $456.60, in early trading.
Over all, the Standard & Poor’s 500-share index was flat, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.2 percent, while the Nasdaq was 0.6 percent lower.
However, some positive economic news looked set to put a floor under stock prices. Growth in Chinese manufacturing accelerated to a two-year high this month and a buoyant Germany took the euro zone economy a step closer to recovery, business surveys showed on Thursday.
In the United States, the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell to its lowest since the early days of the 2007-9 recession, a hopeful sign for the sluggish labor market.
With signs the economy is improving, some investors are lauding the strength of the stock market rather than calling an end to the rally.
“The market has disconnected itself with Apple,” said Jack de Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, N.H. “I think it shows great strength in the overall S.&P.”
The S.&P. 500 rose for a sixth day on Wednesday following stronger-than-expected results from I.B.M. and Google. But Apple could now halt that rally, which had lifted stocks to five-year highs.
In Europe, shares were mostly higher. The FTSE in London was 0.6 percent higher, while the DAX in Germany gained 0.2 percent in afternoon trading.
Markets Mixed in Early Trading
This article
Markets Mixed in Early Trading
can be opened in url
http://newsejection.blogspot.com/2013/01/markets-mixed-in-early-trading.html
Markets Mixed in Early Trading
