S&P 500 suffered its steepest one-day decline in five weeks while the Nasdaq Composite dropped the most since July 31. Broad-based losses were led by stocks from the telecom and utilities sectors.
Analysts attributed recent weakness to consolidation after strong gains from the past five weeks.
Fluctuation in Apple Inc’s shares contributed to the choppy session on Wall Street, as the tech group is the heaviest weighted stock on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. Apple Inc. unveiled iPhone 6, ApplePay and Apple Watch and shares rose as high as 3.5%, but lost ground after the event and closed lower.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.65% closed 13.1 points, or 0.7%, at 1,988.44. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.57% dropped 97.55 points, or 0.6%, to 17,013.87. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.87% shed 40 points, or 0.9%, to 4,552.29.
“The S&P 500 continues to consolidate around the technical resistance level of 2,000 and it could do so for a while,” said Randy Frederick, managing director of trading & derivatives at Schwab Center for Financial Research.
“We are also at a juncture where stocks are fairly priced, not too expensive, but not too cheap either. In the absence of earnings news or major economic data, it is not unusual to see sideways moves,” he added. WSJ personal technology editor Wilson Rothman joins Simon Constable on Digits to outline three key things consumers and investors will look for at Apple’s new product event on Tuesday.
Stocks on the move: The iPhone maker AAPL, -0.62% unveiled the newest version of its flagship phone and a new Apple Watch wearable device. Shares rose as much as 3.5%, but closed slightly lower.
McDonald’s MCD, -1.52% shares fell 1.5% after the fast-food restaurant chain said global comparable sales fell 3.7% in August and blamed “several headwinds” for the decline. The company warned that problems with a supplier in China will hurt third-quarter results. Also read: The secret to a long life? Fast food
Shares of Annie’s Inc. BNNY, +37.57% rose 38%, on the heels of a similar late-session rally after General Mills Inc. GIS, -0.64% offered to buy the organic-foods company for $820 million in cash.
Shares of Pinnacle Foods Inc. PF, -4.65% fell 4.6% after the packaged-foods company said some shareholders tied primarily to investment firm Blackstone will sell 15 million common shares.
Barnes & Noble Inc. BKS, +2.95% shares were up 3% after the bookseller’s fiscal second-quarter profit jumped thanks to cost cuts, masking a bigger-than-expected decline in revenue.. Read about more of the day’s notable stock moves here.
Other markets: The yield on the 10-year Treasurys 10_YEAR, +0.44% rose 3 basis points to 2.5%, its highest since the beginning of August on a closing basis. Brent crude oil prices LCOV4, -0.02% held steady $99 a barrel, while the dollar charted new highs against the yen USDJPY, +0.50% and the euro EURUSD, +0.02% Europe stocks SXXP, -0.49% posted mild losses, while Asia markets ADOW, -1.36% saw mostly modest gains.
Source: MarketWatch
