Summary Following disappointing earnings, sending US market
NEW YORK, April 27, 2016 (AFP) - Apple shares plunged in opening trade Wednesday following disappointing earnings, sending US markets into the red.
Apple, the world s largest company by market value, sank 7.2 after reporting its first-ever drop in iPhone sales in earnings released late Tuesday afternoon. Profits also fell in the fiscal second quarter, while revenues suffered their first quarterly drop since 2003.
The weak Apple results were most detrimental to the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which was down 0.6 percent to 4,860.96 five minutes into trade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent at 17,971.76, while the broad-based S&P 500 was down less than 0.1 of a point at 2,090.99.
The market is also focused on the Fed, which will release its policy statement at 1800 GMT. While analysts expect the US central bank to keep interest rates unchanged, the statement will be scrutinized for signals about potential rate hikes in June or later in 2016.
