Apple, Interest Rate Worries Weigh On US Markets

Wall Street has finished the week on a low, with stocks falling on worries about higher interest rates and the prospects for tech giant Apple.

The Dow Jones dropped 0.8 percent to 24,462. The S&P 500 lost 0.9 percent to end at 2,670, while the Nasdaq tumbled 1.3 percent to 7,146. following a big decline in Apple, the biggest company by market capitalisation.

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury rose ever closer to 3.0 percent, jumping 1.3 points to 2.95 percent, reigniting fears that Federal Reserve interest rate increases will dent the economy.

Investor unrest is due partly to uncertainty about how the US central bank might navigate the transition under a new leadership team following the replacement of Janet Yellen with new Chair Jerome Powell, said Maris Ogg of Tower Bridge Advisors.

"We are in a different environment and the market is still wrestling with how all that is going to come out. The market is wrestling with how high rates are going to go and how damaging it is going to be."

Meanwhile, Apple sank 4.1 percent following a series of reports from Wall Street analysts expressing doubts about iPhone sales. Canaccord Genuity cut its estimate for iPhones and predicted low sales would persist until new products are launched.

Slumping industrial giant General Electric jumped 3.9 percent despite reporting a US$1.2 billion first-quarter loss on a large legal charge. Some key divisions posted strong results, and analysts said GE's report avoided fresh negative surprise announcements that have plagued recent results. (AFP)