In all these years, investors have not yet figured out that whenever Apple introduces a hot new product, there are always bumps in the road.  So beyond the continuing noise surrounding North Korea, the market continues to get hit by Apple stock dropping due to problems with the release of the new iPhone.  The market was down 140 points mid-day before recovering to a 53 point loss with safe-haven assets like gold picking up as often happens when crisis lurks.  The VIX was up to just over 11 (so it’s worse than it was, but keep in mind that anything under 30 is considered good) and the losses from Apple were more than made up for by gains in oil which enjoyed its 16^th gain in a month and a two-year high with global suppliers finally committing to cutting down the glut.  Volume was above average at 6.4 billion.

mon  SEPTEMBER 25, 2017 / 4:34 pM

Wall St. declines on tech selloff, North Korea concern

Chuck Mikolajczak

DJ: 22,296.09  -53.50     NAS: 6,370.59  -56.33      S&P: 2,496.66  -5.56       9/25

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street dipped on Monday, as a selloff in technology shares weighed heavily on the Nasdaq, while the most recent statement from North Korea’s to Washington added to a cautious tone.  North Korea’s foreign minister said President Donald Trump had declared war on the country and it reserved the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down U.S. bombers even if they are not in its airspace.  The White House disputed the declaration, calling the suggestion “absurd.”

The comments buoyed safe-haven assets, those that are favored by investors in times of crisis, with gold XAU= up 1 percent and the Japanese yen strengthened 0.26 percent versus the greenback at 111.71 per dollar.

“The North Korea narrative is not going away and the longer it remains part of the conversation, the more negative it becomes,” said Peter Kenny, senior market strategist at Global Markets Advisory Group, in New York.

The CBOE Volatility index .VIX, a widely followed measure of market anxiety, hit a 2-week high of 11.21 and was last up 0.63 points at 10.22.

Tech names such as Facebook (FB.O), off 4.5 percent, Microsoft (MSFT.O), down 1.55 percent, and Apple (AAPL.O), off 0.88 percent, were among the biggest drags on the benchmark S&P 500 index.

Apple shares flirted with correction territory following a report that the company had told suppliers to scale back shipments of parts for its upcoming iPhone X.

“There has been some disappointment in the reception of Apple’s latest iPhone release, and that is driving some concern and that is bleeding through to the supply-chain names,” said Kenny.

The S&P technology index .SPLRCT slid 1.42 percent, its worst daily performance in five weeks. The index remains the best performing of the 11 major S&P sectors this year, however, with a rise of nearly 23 percent.

The losses in tech were offset somewhat by a sharp climb in the energy sector, which gained 1.47 percent. The sector notched its sixteenth gain in the last 18 sessions.  Oil prices hit a more than two-year high after major producers said the global market was on its way towards rebalancing, while Turkey threatened to cut oil flows from Iraq’s Kurdistan region toward its ports.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 53.84 points, or 0.24 percent, to 22,295.75, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 5.56 points, or 0.22 percent, to 2,496.66 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 56.33 points, or 0.88 percent, to 6,370.59. 

Genuine Parts (GPC.N) shares jumped 5.96 percent as the best performer on the S&P 500 after the car parts distributor said it would enter the European market with a deal to buy peer Alliance Automotive Group for about $2 billion.

Allergan (AGN.N) was up 3.40 percent after the drugmaker authorized a $2 billion buyback of its shares.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.28-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.26-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

About 6.42 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, above the 6.02 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.