NY Stock Market Fails to Turn Up Amid Apple Headwinds... S&P 500 Declines for 5 Consecutive Trading Days

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The New York stock market closed lower again. Concerns over a slowdown in economic recovery due to the spread of the Delta variant continued, and negative news from Apple struck the market, causing the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index to fall for the fifth consecutive trading day.

On the 10th (local time), the Dow fell 271.66 points (0.78%) to close at 34,607.72, the S&P 500 dropped 34.70 points (0.77%) to 4,458.58, and the Nasdaq fell 132.76 points (0.87%) to close at 15,115.49.

Major indices in the New York stock market started the day on an upswing following a phone call between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but negative news from Apple dragged the overall indices down.

Apple's stock price plunged 3.3% to break below the $150 level after news that a court ruled prohibiting in-app payments outside of the Apple App Store is an anti-competitive practice.

Apple has been collecting a 30% commission on App Store sales through in-app payments. When Apple removed Epic Games' game from the App Store for circumventing in-app payments, Epic filed a lawsuit in response.

Game companies such as EA and Activision Blizzard showed strength following the Apple ruling. Zynga, Roblox, and Allervin also rose together.

The Producer Price Index (PPI) released that day showed a slowdown compared to the previous month but remained at a high level.

The August Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.7% month-over-month, exceeding the market expectation of a 0.6% increase. However, it slowed compared to the 1.0% increase recorded in July. The August core PPI, excluding food and energy, rose 0.6% month-over-month. The market expectation was a 0.5% increase.

The producer price index rose 8.3% year-over-year, marking the highest level since 2010.

Amid ongoing inflation concerns, the Wall Street Journal forecasted that Fed officials will strive to reach an agreement at the September FOMC meeting on the 21st-22nd to begin tapering asset purchases in November. The WSJ based this forecast on recent remarks by Fed officials.