Wall St dips as Apple adds to fears of weakening demand

Apple's shares fell 2.5% to $117.52 after Credit Suisse said the iPhone maker had lowered component orders by as much as 10%

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US stocks were lower on Tuesday morning, dragged down by Apple, as investors worried about China's economic health and braced for an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve next month.

Apple's shares fell 2.5 percent to $117.52 after Credit Suisse said the iPhone maker had lowered component orders by as much as 10 percent. The stock was the biggest drag on the three major indexes.

The report on Apple added to fears of a slowdown in global growth, especially in China, a key market for many U.S. companies including Apple, ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season.

China's October inflation data on Tuesday showed persisting, if not intensifying, deflationary pressure. That followed disappointing trade data out of the world's second-largest economy over the weekend.

At 9:35 a.m. ET (1435 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was down 28.73 points, or 0.16 percent, at 17,701.75.

The S&P 500 was down 1.96 points, or 0.09 percent, at 2,076.62 and the Nasdaq Composite index was down 24.39 points, or 0.48 percent, at 5,070.92.

Seven of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, with the information technology sector's 0.74 percent fall leading the decliners.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average slipping into negative territory for the year.

The three major U.S. indexes are coming off a six-week rally buoyed by better-than-expected earnings reports that helped lift Wall Street sentiments.

"Being that the market is not on firm footing, this market is susceptible to profit taking and a consolidation period after this quite impressive rally off of the lows in late September," said Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

Global stocks also ticked lower on Tuesday as the dollar rose to a seven-month high on the possibility that the U.S Federal Reserve will raise rates next month, as is widely expected after Friday's strong U.S. jobs report.

Apple suppliers Skyworks, Avago, Cirrus Logic and Qorvo were down between 3.5 percent and 6.0 percent.

Gap fell 4.2 percent to $26.53 after its comparable sales fell more than expected in October.

Rockwell Automation fell 4.3 percent to $103.17 after its quarterly results missed estimates.

Among the few gainers on Tuesday, D.R. Horton was up 3.8 percent to $29.85 after its quarterly profit jumped 44 percent.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,518 to 1,125. On the Nasdaq, 1,277 issues fell and 879 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed one new 52-week high and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 16 new highs and 30 new lows.