The markets were lower to close out the week. The Dow 30 closed down by 201 thanks mostly to Apple. The S&P 500 sold off 22, and the Nasdaq 100 closed lower by 91. Next week investors will continue to focus on earnings, as it will be the busiest week of the earnings season with one third of the S&P 500 reporting. Nearly 20% of the S&P 500 has reported earnings thus far, and 81.5% have beat Wall Street analysts' expectations.
General Electric (GE ) shares popped 4% today as the company reported earnings and revenue that came in better than expected. Shares moved to a 4-week high as positive comments about the restructuring likely caused some short-term buying from both the bulls as well as the short traders. Unfortunately, the good day was not reflected in the performance of the Dow 30, thanks to Apple's decline.
Apple (AAPL ) shares were lower by 4.10% today due to a comment from Morgan Stanley (MS ) that the company's "iPhone sales for the June quarter will disappoint Wall Street." The stock sold off right into the 200 day moving average as well as some technical support. Over the last two days the stock has lost over 7% of its value.
In other news, banking stocks (XLF ) saw a small gain thanks to higher interest rates. The 10-year treasury traded above 2.94%, its highest since February. And the two-year yield rose to its highest level in over a decade.