Don’t let the modest 27 point gain today on the Dow fool you into thinking it was a quiet session.  It was actually up nearly 200 points mid-session only to come crashing down again in the afternoon to close 27 up.  This time we can’t blame China.  It was actually up because of optimism over fresh China trade talks and came crashing down due to the underwhelming response to Apple’s new iWatch and iPhone, both characterized as a yawn as neither offered any significant changes from prior products.  Apple fell 1.2 percent, as did the tech index.  It also didn’t help investor confidence that the major tech companies continue to be scrutinized by the Congress which may trigger more unwanted regulations over data privacy.  Trading was quite robust at 7.1 billion shares. 

wed SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 / 4:42 pm

Dow, S&P 500 end up slightly after trade talk news; Apple slips

Caroline Valetkevitch

DJ:  25,998.92  +27.86        NAS:  7,954.23  -18.25         S&P:  2,888.92  +1.03       9/12

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Dow and S&P 500 ended slightly higher on Wednesday after news of a fresh round of U.S.-China trade talks, while the Nasdaq fell following a decline in Apple as it unveiled larger iPhones but made just minor changes to its offerings.  The Trump administration has reached out to China for a new round of trade talks as it prepares to activate punitive U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, according to two people familiar with the matter.  Trade-sensitive stocks rose, including Boeing (BA.N), up 2.4 percent.

Apple (AAPL.O) shares were down 1.2 percent. The company also unveiled health-oriented watches based on the design of current models.  “Looks like the Street is yawning at Apple’s new iWatch, iOs12 and iPhone offerings,” said Daniel Morgan, vice president and senior portfolio manager at Synovus Trust Company in Atlanta. “This adds to the concerns on tariffs, social media testimony and chips to make it a tough day for tech.” 

Shares of fitness device rival Fitbit Inc (FIT.N) fell 6.9 while shares of Garmin Ltd (GRMN.O) lost some earlier gains and were flat after the launch of Apple’s latest Apple Watch.  The S&P technology index .SPLRCT was down 0.5 percent, reversing Tuesday’s gains, with fears of further deregulation also hurting Apple as well as social media names. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 27.86 points, or 0.11 percent, to 25,998.92, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.03 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,888.92 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 18.25 points, or 0.23 percent, to 7,954.23. 

Six major Web and Internet service companies, including Apple, are to detail their consumer data privacy practices to a U.S. Senate panel on Sept. 26, raising the specter of the possibility of stricter regulation.  Among the six companies to testify later this month, Twitter (TWTR.N) shares were down 3.7 percent, while Alphabet (GOOGL.O) was down 1.5 percent.

Facebook (FB.O), not among the companies to testify, was down 2.4 percent.  The Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX was down 1.2 percent after Goldman Sachs became the latest brokerage to warn of lower prices for memory chips due to an oversupply of DRAM and NAND chips. Micron (MU.O) slid 4.3 percent, while Applied Materials (AMAT.O) was down 2 percent. 

Financial shares lost ground with 10-year bond yields US10YT=RR. The S&P financial index .SPSY was down 0.9 percent.  Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.35-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.12-to-1 ratio favored decliners.  The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 81 new highs and 89 new lows.

About 7.1 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges. That compares with the 6.2 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.