Stocks off slightly but Apple jumps
Stocks ended Wednesday slightly lower as shares of energy companies and consumer goods makers outweighed gains in technology companies such as Apple.
Investors also worked through the Federal Reserve’s latest policy statement. The Fed didn’t change interest rates, but it left the door open for increases later this year.
The Dow Jones industrial average edged down 1.58 points, less than 0.1%, to 18,472.17. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slipped 2.60 points, or 0.1%, to 2,166.58. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 29.76 points, or 0.6%, to 5,139.81.
Apple jumped 6.6% to $103.03. Although the Cupertino, Calif., company reported lower revenue and iPhone sales, it still earned $7.8 billion last quarter, well above analysts’ estimates. Apple had been one of the biggest drags on the market this year as investors became concerned that its years of massive growth were coming to an end. But now Apple stock has nearly erased its loss for the year.
“The expectations for Apple were abysmal,” said Daniel Morgan, a portfolio manager at Synovus Trust Company who owns Apple shares. “Everyone is waiting for later this year, when Apple releases new products.”
Coca-Cola, another component of the Dow, fell 3.3% to $43.40 after the beverage giant trimmed its sales outlook for the year, citing weak demand in China and other international markets. Coke has faced headwinds in the U.S. and internationally as more people move away from sugary drinks.
Twitter, which like Apple reported its results late Tuesday, saw its shares plunge 15% to $15.77. The San Francisco-based social media company reported another loss and said user adoption rates continued to slow. Roughly 313 million people regularly used Twitter last quarter, a fraction of the 1.6 billion people who use Facebook regularly.
“It’s really now becoming a question on whether Twitter as a concept is something financially viable,” Morgan said. “Fundamentally, is this going to work?”
Among other California companies making big moves, Edwards Lifesciences jumped 5.6% to $114.44 after the Irvine-based medical device maker posted profit and sales that were stronger than expected and gave a more optimistic forecast for the year.
Robert Half International dived 11.1% to $36.86 after the Menlo Park, Calif.based staffing company reported net income and sales that fell short of analyst estimates.
On Friday, investors will get another policy decision by one of the world’s central banks: The Bank of Japan is likely to vote to increase its economic stimulus efforts.
Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1, or 2.3%, to $41.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, continuing its monthlong decline. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell $1.40 to $43.47 a barrel in London.
Energy stocks were among the biggest decliners as oil prices fell. Marathon Oil and Transocean both fell more than 4%, and Hess fell 3.9%.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.51% from 1.56%, most of the gains coming after the Fed’s announcement. The dollar rose to 105.23 yen from 104.63 yen and the euro fell to $1.1054 from $1.0986.
Gold rose $5.90 to $1,326.70 an ounce, silver rose 31 cents to $20 an ounce and copper fell 4 cents to $2.19 a pound.
In other energy commodities, heating oil fell 3 cents to $1.30 a gallon, wholesale gasoline fell 2 cents to $1.32 a gallon and natural gas fell 4 cents to $2.67 per 1,000 cubic feet.