By Josie Cox
Gold, oil and Apple Inc. dented European equity markets
Wednesday.
The region's benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.3% by
midmorning, following a 1.0% loss in the previous session.
Brent crude and gold prices were both down around 1%, bruising
mining and resources stocks such as Rio Tinto PLC, Fresnillo PLC
and BHP Billiton PLC.
Apple's earnings, which were published after the market close
Tuesday and showed sales of the iPhone missed some analysts'
estimates, led to a fall in global technology stocks. Apple shares
fell 7% in after-hours trading soon after the report, erasing about
$60 billion in market value. Asian shares fell Wednesday.
One of the biggest decliners on the pan-European index was ARM
Holdings PLC, which designs the basic chip technology found in more
than 95% of all smartphones, including the iPhone. Shares fell more
than 3%.
ARM reported a smaller-than-expected rise in quarterly revenue,
and Citigroup analyst Amit Harchandani wrote in a note to clients
that concerns around smartphone sales would likely present a hurdle
in the second half of the year.
Shares in other chip makers and technology companies in
Europe--such as Germany's Dialog Semiconductor PLC and Infineon
Technologies AG, and Paris-listed STMicroelectronics NV--also
slipped near the bottom of the Stoxx Europe 600.
The region's subindex of technology stocks was down close to
1%.
In the U.S., futures contracts indicated a 0.3% opening loss for
the S&P 500. Futures don't always accurately reflect moves
after the opening bell.
On Tuesday, U.S. stocks fell after weak earnings reports from
International Business Machines Corp. and United Technologies
Corp.
In currency markets Wednesday, the euro was little changed
against the U.S. dollar at $1.094.
BNP Paribas strategists said that some investors have in the
past day been selling the dollar to take advantage of a rally in
recent weeks. They said they still expect the dollar to climb
against the euro in the longer term considering the likelihood of a
U.S. interest rate rise.
Brent crude fell to $56.47 a barrel. Gold was down at $1,093.10
a troy ounce.
Gold recorded a ninth consecutive day of trading losses Tuesday
amid expectations of higher interest rates in the U.S.
Government bond markets were little changed. The yield on
10-year German debt was at 0.73%, slightly higher on the day. The
yield on 10-year Spanish debt was at 2.04% and on Italian 10-year
was at 1.99%, both slightly higher. Yields fall as bond prices
rise.
Write to Josie Cox at josie.cox@wsj.com
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