Apple stock soars, but indexes drop

Apple surged to its biggest gain in a year and a half Wednesday and drew closer to $1 trillion in value after it reported stronger iPhone sales and rising prices. But losses for energy and industrial companies left major stock indexes lower.

Already the most valuable company in the U.S., Apple was the biggest gainer of any S&P 500 stock Wednesday and the technology giant finished at another record high. That made up for a lot of losses elsewhere in the market.

Investors were following reports that the Trump administration is considering a higher tax rate on Chinese imports. Energy and materials companies fell with the price of oil and metals, and car companies also declined.

The Standard & Poors 500 index slid 2.93 points, or 0.1%, to 2,813.36. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 81.37 points, or 0.3%, to 25,333.82. The jump in Apple stock was worth 77 Dow points. The Nasdaq composite added 35.50 points, or 0.5%, to 7,707.29, but the Russell 2000 index of smallercompany stocks lost 1.54 points, or 0.1%, to 1,669.26.

The S&P 500 index rose 3.6% in July despite the trade war between the U.S. and China.

As expected, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged but suggested it’s likely to raise rates again in September. High-dividend stocks such as consumer products makers sank as bond yields increased.

Apple said the average price for the iPhone jumped 20% in its latest quarter and its third-quarter profit and sales both surpassed analyst projections. Apple’s third fiscal quarter is usually its weakest. The company’s forecast for fourth-quarter revenue also topped Wall Street estimates.

Apple surged 5.9% to $201.50, and it finished the day with a market value of $990.4 billion.

Automakers mostly slid. Ferrari dropped 11% to $118 after its new chief executive, Louis Camilleri, warned that it might not be able to reach the revenue targets outlined by his predecessor, the late Sergio Marchionne.

Bond prices sank. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 3% from 2.96%. Higher yields force interest rates on mortgages and other loans higher, making it more profitable for banks to lend money. However, rising yields drew investors to bonds and away from highdividend stocks such as consumer goods makers.

Benchmark U.S. crude dropped 2% to $67.66 a barrel in New York. Brent crude fell 2.5% to $72.39 a barrel in London.

Gold lost 0.5% to $1,227.60 an ounce. Silver fell 0.7% to $15.45 an ounce.

The dollar fell to 111.56 yen from 111.83 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1664 from $1.1697.