Stocks Follow Techs, Energies Lower
Stocks Follow Techs, Energies Lower
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks are down Wednesday morning as a shaky forecast from Apple takes techstocks lower. Disappointing outlooks from aircraft makers Boeing and Textron hit industrial stocks. The Federal Reserve is holding its first meeting of the year and investors are waiting to see what it says about interest rates and the economy. Energy stocks took another tumble.
KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average sank 169 points, or 1.1 percent, to 15,997 as of 10:23 a.m. Eastern time. Dow components Apple and Boeing took large losses. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 14 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,889. The Nasdaq composite index, which has a high concentration of techstocks, fell 58 points, or 1.3 percent, to 4,509.
APPLE CORED: Apple slumped after it said growth in iPhone sales slowed in the fourth quarter. It also predicted its first decline in revenue in 13 years for the current quarter. CEO Tim Cook said the strong dollar is hurting sales. The stock gave up $4.63, or 4.6 percent, to $95.37.
GROUNDED: Aerospace and defense giant Boeing fell after its 2016 outlook came up short of analyst projections. Textron, which makes Cessna planes and Bell helicopters, also tumbled after its fourth-quarter profit and sales disappointed investors. Boeing stock lost $12.28, or 9.6 percent, to $115.73 and Textron fell $2.86, or 7.6 percent, to $34.87.
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BIOGEN BOUNCES: Biotech drugmaker Biogen rose after its fourth-quarter earnings were stronger than expected. It added $10.76, or 4.1 percent, to $270.63.
FED PLANS: The Federal Reserve will wrap up its latest policy meeting Wednesday afternoon. In December it raised its main interest rate above zero, where it had been since 2008. Since then stocks have dropped, as have oil prices. That's partly because investors are worrying about the global economy as growth in China slows down.
At one time the Fed was expected to raise interest rates last September, but it held off and said market turmoil was one reason for that decision. Higher interest rates would tend to make the dollar even stronger, which makes imports cheaper but makes U.S. goods more costly in other countries.
NO TUPPERWARE PARTY: Tupperware's fourth-quarter profit and sales fell far short of estimates, and its stockshed $8.35, or 16.2 percent, to $43.13.
TOTAL SYSTEM SLIDES: Electronic payment services provider Total System Services fell $5.30, or 11.5 percent, to $40.70 after its earnings fell short of estimates and it gave a weak profit forecast.
OIL PRICES: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 56 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $0.89 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the benchmark for international oils, fell 5 cents to $31.74 a barrel in London.
BONDS, CURRENCIES: U.S. government bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.03 percent from 2 percent. The euro rose to $1.0882 from $1.0853 and the dollar was little changed at 118.47 yen.
OVERSEAS: France's CAC-40 was down 0.1 percent while Germany's DAX rose 0.1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 was 0.4 percent higher. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 4 percent by midday before recovering to end down 0.5 percent, adding to Tuesday's 6.4 percent loss. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 2.7 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1 percent. South Korea's Kospi gained 1.4 percent.
(KA)