Apple, Boeing drag down Wall Street

By Abhiram Nandakumar

REUTERS - Apple and Boeing's disappointing forecasts dragged down U.S. stock indexes on Wednesday, as anxious investors awaited the Federal Reserve's statement on monetary policy.

Apple's shares were down 5.3 percent at $94.67 after the company also reported its slowest-ever rise in iPhone shipments on Tuesday. The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, and was set for its biggest fall since August.

Boeing sank 9.5 percent to $115.90, its biggest single-day fall since October 2001, and was the biggest negative influence on the Dow.

Apple and Boeing combined accounted for 105 points of the Dow's near 120-point decline.

"When you particularly see big group of companies like Apple and Boeing, and their disappointing guidance, it has a profound impact on the market as a whole," said James Abate, chief investment officer of Centre Funds.

"Furthermore, I think it relates to the fact that stocks are going to trade more in line with earnings than they will with regard to interest rates or Fed policy," he said.

Crude oil prices rebounded from earlier losses after an unexpected rise in U.S. inventories erased optimism about the possibility of the world's top producers coming together to address a massive glut.

At 11:00 a.m. ET (1600 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was down 130.67 points, or 0.81 percent, at 16,036.56, the S&P 500 was down 11.17 points, or 0.59 percent, at 1,892.46 and the Nasdaq Composite index was down 52.20 points, or 1.14 percent, at 4,515.47.

Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, led by the 1.7 percent fall in tech stocks.

While an interest-rate hike is not expected in Wednesday's statement, due at 2:00 p.m. ET, investors will be keen to see the Fed's reaction to the turmoil in global markets.

"When the Fed hiked rates last month, expectations were that there were going to be four more rate hikes this year, and I think market is now assigning a less than 1 percent probability of that happening," Abate said.

Textron slid 7.5 percent to $34.92, while Tupperware sank 15.9 percent to $43.27 after both companies posted revenue that missed estimates.

VMware was down 9.6 percent at $44.55 after its 2016 forecast was weaker than expected.

TripAdvisor, Priceline and Expedia were down 2.6-3.2 percent, after Goldman Sachs downgraded travel-related stocks.

Among the few gainers, Biogen was up 6.3 percent at $276.26 after its profit and revenue beat expectations.

Tech majors Facebook, Qualcomm and eBay are slated to report after the close.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,702 to 1,176. On the Nasdaq, 1,580 issues fell and 935 rose.

The S&P 500 index showed one new 52-week high and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded six new highs and 47 lows.

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)