US: Stocks fall on reported cut in Apple spending 

WALL Street stocks fell on Monday after an early rally petered out following a report that Apple plans to trim spending and hiring.

Equities began well after solid Goldman Sachs results and markets appeared poised to extend Friday’s positive momentum following commentary from banks expressing confidence in US economic resiliency.

But the trend reversed after Bloomberg News reported that Apple was pulling back on some investments in preparation for a potential economic slowdown. Apple shares dropped 2.1 per cent.

Analysts also pointed to a jump in oil prices and to the premium in the yield of short-term Treasury bonds over longer-term issues that is seen as a prognosticator of recessions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.7 per cent to finish at 31,072.61. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 0.8 per cent to 3,830.85, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also shed 0.8 per cent to 11,360.05.

“Investors are becoming cautious again,” said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities. “I guess investors are looking for more convincing data that the earnings season is not going to be all that bad.”

Goldman Sachs climbed 2.5 per cent as it reported a 48 per cent drop in quarterly earnings to US$2.8 billion after setting aside more funds in case of bad loans.

However, results topped analyst expectations following a strong performance in trading.

Boeing ended flat after initially surging on its announcement that Delta agreed to buy 100 medium-haul Boeing MAX passenger aircraft worth a combined US$13.5 billion.

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Delta rose 3.4 per cent This week’s earnings calendar includes results from Netflix, Johnson & Johnson and Tesla. AFP