Apple’s Position as “King of Stocks” Threatened as it Suffers Major Losses
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed slightly higher on January 5th, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.07%, the S&P 500 Index rising 0.18%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index rising 0.09%. However, all three indexes posted losses for the week, ending a nine-week streak of gains.
Apple’s stock price has fallen for five consecutive trading days, with a decline of 5.9% since 2024. This resulted in a loss of more than US$176.5 billion in market value. Apple suffered three major blows this week, including concerns about the future of the iPhone and reports that the U.S. Department of Justice was close to investigating the future of the iPhone, raising the possibility of an antitrust lawsuit.
The market values of Apple and Microsoft are now very close and if Apple continues to fall, its position as the “King of Stocks” in the U.S. stock market may be overtaken by Microsoft.
On the same day, the U.S. Department of Labor released data showing that non-farm employment in the United States had exceeded expectations, indicating accelerated employment growth and wage increases. This reduced the possibility of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in March.
Despite the positive employment data, U.S. short-term interest rate futures traders reduced their bets on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut, returning the probability of a rate cut in March 2024 to 50%.
Janet Yellen, U.S. Treasury Secretary, sang a bullish tone on the U.S. economy, stating that the economy has achieved a soft landing, uncommon in history, which has contained high inflation without a severe economic slowdown.
The U.S. stock market closed slightly higher on January 5th, but all three indexes recorded losses for the week, ending the previous record of nine consecutive weeks of gains. This led analysts to caution that U.S. stocks may face a challenging year after the recent market volatility.
In the midst of these developments, the pandemic has continued to wreak havoc on logistics and manufacturing processes, with Carrefour deciding to ban the sale of products such as Pepsi-Cola, Lay’s potato chips, and 7Up due to the cost these products brought to the supermarket during a recent price tug of war.
The original title of this content from the Securities Times was “Three major negative surprises, Apple evaporates over one trillion yuan in the New Year! Is the position of ‘King of Stocks’ not guaranteed?” and the author is Li Dan, with Oriental Fortune publishing this content to disseminate information and not as investment advice. Operate accordingly at your own risk.