NEW YORK — U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard &Poor’s 500 Index declining the most in a month, as concerns grew that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than anticipated and a rally in Apple disappeared. ADVERTISING NEW
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard &Poor’s 500 Index declining the most in a month, as concerns grew that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than anticipated and a rally in Apple disappeared.
Apple wiped out a rally of as much as 4.8 percent after unveiling new products including larger-screen iPhones. Garmin and Amazon.com dropped at least 3.5 percent, pacing declines in the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index. McDonald’s retreated 1.5 percent as its monthly sales missed estimates. Home Depot lost 2.1 percent after confirming that hackers attacked its computer systems.
The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent to 1,988.44 at 4 p.m. Tuesday in New York, for its largest retreat since Aug. 5. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 97.55 points, or 0.6 percent, to 17,013.87. The Nasdaq 100 slumped 0.8 percent, and the Russell 2000 Index of smaller companies tumbled 1.2 percent, its biggest drop since July 31. About 5.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, 3.5 percent above the three-month average.
“There are still a number of people who fear the Fed will raise rates too soon, but I don’t think there’s anything to be gained by being early in raising interest rates,” John Manley, who helps oversee about $233 billion as chief equity strategist for Wells Fargo Funds Management in New York, said in a phone interview. “If the Fed tightens too soon, it will drag the U.S. and the world into another recession.”
The Fed is gauging the strength of the economy as it winds down a bond-buying program and considers the timing of raising rates. Policy officials next meet Sept. 16 and 17.
Assessments of the strength of the economy are mixed, after gross domestic product expanded more than previously forecast in the second quarter, while a report on Friday showed the economy added fewer jobs than anticipated in August. Data this week will likely show a decline in weekly jobless claims and stronger retail sales, according to economists’ forecasts.
Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of fundamental fixed income in New York, said in a report that an improving labor market and signs of inflation argue for the Fed to boost borrowing costs. Meanwhile, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said the U.S. economic rebound has been hindered by a slump in the construction industry as wage growth remains slow and credit conditions tight.
Wall Street strategists have been raising their targets for the S&P 500. Gina Martin Adams at Wells Fargo and Tony Dwyer, a strategist at Canaccord Genuity Securities, on Tuesday were the latest to lift their forecasts for the S&P. They follow increased projections from Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank and a bullish rating on global stocks from Goldman Sachs’ portfolio strategy team.
The S&P 500 retreated 0.3 percent Monday after a five-week rally, its longest winning streak this year. The benchmark is trading at 16.6 times the projected earnings of its members, near the 16.8 multiple reached on Friday that was the highest valuation since the end of 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The S&P 500 had not posted a move of more than 0.5 percent in either direction for 14 straight days until Tuesday, the longest streak since 1995, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The last time the index fell more than 10 percent was three years ago.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the gauge known as the VIX, climbed 6.6 percent to 13.50 Tuesday, the most in more than a month. The gauge lost 29 percent last month, the biggest drop in almost three years.
All 10 groups in the S&P 500 dropped on Tuesday, with financial companies, utilities and phone shares losing more than 1 percent. Technology shares dropped 0.6 percent, reversing an earlier rally of 0.7 percent.
Apple fell 0.4 percent to $97.99, after climbing to within one point of its intraday record of $103.74 reached last week. The shares have typically fallen at other events where it debuted new products. Apple is up 22 percent so far this year, exceeding the 7.6 percent gain for the S&P 500.
The company announced a smartwatch, mobile-payments system, health applications and bigger-screen iPhones that all work together — in the biggest new lineup so far under Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook.
Garmin dropped 3.5 percent to $51.71. The maker of navigation services tumbled as much as 6.1 percent after Apple introduced the Apple Watch, which will include apps for maps.
Amazon.com retreated 3.7 percent, the most since July, to $329.75. The company Monday cut the price of its Fire smartphone to 99 cents to boost adoption of the device.
Other technology companies also slumped. Yahoo dropped 2.5 percent, eBay lost 2.8 percent, and Intel slid 1.2 percent.
McDonald’s retreated 1.5 percent to $91.09. The world’s largest restaurant chain said sales at stores open at least 13 months fell 3.7 percent in August as its U.S. slump continued for the fourth straight month.
Home Depot lost 2.1 percent to $88.93 after it confirmed that hackers attacked its computer systems at stores in the U.S. and Canada.
