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Apple lifts Nasdaq as trade war fears hit Dow
NEW YORK, Aug 2, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Wall Street stocks finished mixed
Wednesday, with the Nasdaq lifted by strong Apple results while trade-war
fears weighed on the Dow.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended with a loss of 0.3 percent at
25,333.82, and the broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.1 percent to 2,813.41.
But the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to close the
day at 7,707.29.
US stocks opened the session with positive momentum following Apple’s
strong results and good US private-sector hiring data.
But markets pulled back following reports President Donald Trump plans to
increase tariffs on the next round of Chinese goods subject to punitive
action.
Sentiment also was hit by a rise in the yield on the 10-year US Treasury
bond above the psychologically important three percent level.
The Federal Reserve, as expected, kept interest rates unchanged, but the
central bank signaled more rate hikes are in the works as it described US
growth as “strong,” an upgrade on its prior assessment.
Apple jumped 5.9 percent after reporting profit rose more than 30 percent
to $11.5 billion in the recently ended quarter, besting market expectations
despite selling fewer iPhones than analysts projected.
The solid earnings lifted Apple, already the world’s biggest company by
market capitalization, closer to the $1 trillion mark.
US-traded shares of Ferrari dived 11.1 percent after its new chief
executive lowered expectations of growth at the car company.
Caesars Entertainment plummeted 14.8 percent as executives said on a
conference call that tourism bookings had weakened. Las Vegas Sands and MGM
Resorts also fell.
BSS/AFP/HR/1030