Stocks edge lower despite Apple’s gain
Consumer goods firms, energy companies lead retreat on Big Board
NEW YORK — Stocks ended Wednesday’s trading slightly lower as retreating shares of energy companies and consumer goods makers outweighed gains in technology companies such as Apple.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.58 points, less than 0.1 percent, to 18,472.17. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 2.60 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,166.58. The technologyheavy Nasdaq composite rose 29.76 points, or 0.6 percent, to 5,139.81.
Apple jumped $6.28, or 6.5 percent, to $102.95. While the company reported lower revenue and iPhone sales, it still earned $10.5 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. Apple nearly erased its loss for the year.
“The expectations for Apple were abysmal,” said Daniel Morgan, a portfolio manager at Synovus Trust who owns Apple shares. “Everyone is waiting for
APPLE $6.36 TWITTER $2.68 BOEING $1.11
later this year, when Apple releases new products.”
Apple, one of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones industrial average, is the first of the major technology companies to report this week. Investors got results from Facebook after the close of trading Wednesday, which will be followed by Amazon and Google later this week.
Boeing, absorbing billions in write-downs related to two of its newest commercial jets and a military fuel tanker, reported its first quarterly loss in nearly seven years.
Yet revenue for the Chicago aerospace giant rose 1 percent to $24.8 billion, and company shares rose steadily before the opening bell Wednesday.
Boeing also signaled in a regulatory filing that it might soon end production of its iconic 747. The giant jet once stood alone, with more seats than any other jet and a range of 6,000 miles, longer than any other plane.
Charges totaling $3 billion before taxes led to Boeing’s first down quarter since the third quarter of 2009, when it lost $1.6 billion.
Coca-Cola, another component of the Dow, fell $1.48, or 3.3 percent, 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 consumers move away from sugary drinks.
Twitter, which also reported its results late Tuesday, plunged $2.68, or 15 percent, to $15.77. The social media company reported another loss and said user adoption rates continue to slow. Roughly 313 million people regularly used Twitter last quarter, a fraction of the 1.7 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?”