Dow Falls on Tech Wreck as Apple, Facebook See Red

By Yasin Ebrahim

The Dow closed lower Wednesday, as an Apple-led decline in tech and an ongoing stalemate in stimulus talks on Capitol Hill weighed on investor sentiment.  

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.35%, or 105 points after rising by more than 100 points intraday. The S&P 500 was down 0.84%, while the Nasdaq Composite slumped 1.94%.

Technology stocks exacerbated the broader market decline as the Fab 5 slipped into the red, paced by a 2% decline in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB). 

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft  (NASDAQ:MSFT) slipped more than 1%.   

Apple’s day of losses come as Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) reiterated its sell rating and $75 price target on the stock on concerns average selling prices are set to come under pressure.  Facebook came under pressure after the Federal Trade Commission and a slew of states sued the social media company for alleged antitrust violations.

“We are taking action to stand up for the millions of consumers and many small businesses that have been harmed by Facebook’s illegal behavior,” said New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading a monopoly lawsuit brought by 46  states against the social media company. The FTC said it was seeking legal action that could result in the breakup of Facebook business in order to rein the social media giant’s monopolistic grip.    

On Capitol HIll, meanwhile, the toing and froing from lawmakers to get a stimulus agreement over the line looks continues. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel snubbed the White House’s $916 billion proposal and said his proposal for a skinny relief bill was brushed off by Democrats.

“With households and businesses under increased pressure as more and more states impose additional restrictions and lockdown measures to control the spread of COVID-19 and Congress set to break on December 18 for the holidays, officials have a limited window to reach an agreement,” Stifel Economics said.

The lack of progress on stimulus has been overshadowed by positive vaccine news. But as the rollout of a vaccine nears, Stifel said deliveries this month could fall short of target.

Vaccine deliveries in December could fall short of the 24 million needed to “vaccinate all frontline medical professionals and long-term care residents, raising questions of which high-priority groups will receive the vaccine first,” Stifel Economics added.

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to meet on Thursday, to review the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine after the health watchdog declared the drug had met safety standards earlier this week.

Energy, meanwhile, was one of the few sectors in the green, but gains were kept in check by falling oil prices following a surprise build in weekly U.S. crude inventories.

In other news, IPO activity continues to heat up as Doordash Inc (NYSE:DASH) surged 86% in its stock market debut. 

Airbnb makes its debut tomorrow, and demand for stock appears to be running high as the company said it expected to price its public offering above the $56 to $60.