Dow off 27 as Apple, techs lead stocks lower

Updated: 7:14 p.m. ET

Tech stocks, especially Apple (AAPL), were lower today and were the chief reason U.S. stocks moved down.

Apple finished down $14.42 to $638.17. Also moving lower were Google (GOOG), Oracle (ORCL), Qualcomm (QCOM), Microsoft  (MSFT, publisher of MSN Money) and Facebook (FB).

There were other issues, of course, starting with worries about the third-quarter earnings season, which unofficially begins with Alcoa's (AA) report after Tuesday's close.

In addition, there was continued fretting about global economic growth. And the World Bank cut its economic growth forecast for China, citing property-market troubles and subdued global demand for exports from the world's second-largest economy.

The Dow Jones industrials ($INDU) closed down 27 points to 13,584. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) was off 5 points to 1,456, and the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) was off 24 points to 3,112. Volume was light.

Article continues below.The Nasdaq-100 Index ($NDX), heavily influenced by Apple, was off 25 points to 2,787.

After the close, Intel (INTC) shares fell 19 cents, or 0.8%, to $22.32, after Bernstein Research downgraded the stock, citing pricing pressures for the chip maker in the next 12 to 18 months.

Stocks look to open flat on Tuesday.

Crude oil (-CL) in New York and London and gold (-GC) were all lower. The Treasury bond market and banks were closed for Columbus Day.

Crude oil in New York settled down 55 cents to $89.33 a barrel, although Brent crude settled down 20 cents to $111.82.

The national average price of gasoline was $3.818, up slightly from Sunday's $3.814, according to AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report. The average has been pushed higher by a big spike in prices in California as refinery and pipeline problems squeezed supply. The run-up -- with pump prices jumping nearly to $4.70 a gallon -- caused Gov. Jerry Brown to call Sunday for a quick infusion of winter-blend gasoline.

Gold was off $5.10 to $1,775.70 an ounce. Silver (-SI) was off 55.5 cents to $34.017 an ounce. Copper (-HG) fell 6 cents to $3.718 a pound.

The 10-year Treasury note was yielding 1.746% in the secondary market.

Alcoa may report break-even results
Alcoa finished up 3 cents to $9.12. It is expected to break even for the quarter on revenue of $5.54 billion, down from $6.42 billion a year ago. It has struggled in the face of supply gluts from China and slumping demand in Europe.

Also reporting after Tuesday's close is Yum Brands (YUM), which is expected to earn 97 cents a share on revenue of $3.66 billion. The company has seen big growth in China. So, investors will be watching to see if the slowing Chinese economy is affecting its business. Shares were up 94 cents to $66.94 today.

Apple shares continue to sag
Apple was the the second-worst-perform​ing Nasdaq-100 stock and 11th-worst among S&P 500 stocks. Its huge market capitalization of just under $600 billion makes its effect on the market larger.

The stock is down 9.1% since peaking at $702.10 on Sept. 19. As important, the shares are trading under their 50-day simple and exponential moving averages, a key measure of investor confidence.

Apple has been having issues with the iPhone 5. The mapping program doesn't work properly. There have been problems with scratched cases, and Apple has been struggling to keep up with the huge demand for the product.

In addition, there have been repeated reports of labor unrest at Foxconn's plant in Zhengzhou, China. Foxconn is the big Chinese electronics company that assembles the iPhone.

Energy prices -- New York close
			Mon.			Fri.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Crude oil (-CL)			$89.33			$89.88			-3.10%			-9.61%
(per barrel)
Heating oil (-HO)			$3.1443			$3.1559			-0.47%			7.90%
(per gallon)
Natural gas (-NG)			$3.4030			$3.3960			2.50%			13.85%
(per mil. BTU)
Unleaded gasoline (-RB)			$2.8931			$2.9525			-0.92%			8.87%
(per gallon)
Brent crude			$111.82			$112.02			-0.51%			4.13%
(per barrel)
Retail gasoline			$3.8180			$3.8140			0.82%			16.54%
(per gallon; AAA)

Health-insurer UnitedHealth Group (UNH), McDonald's (MCD) and American Express (AXP) were the strongest of the 30 Dow stocks today. UnitedHealth moved higher after announcing it was investing $4.3 billion to buy 90% of Brazil's Amil Participacoes.

Walt Disney (DIS), down 64 cents to $52.33, was the third-worst performer among the Dow stocks, after analysts at Caris lowered their rating on the shares to "average" from "above average." They said the shares have rallied to a fair price for the company. Disney's stock is up nearly 40% this year, fourth-best among the Dow stocks.

Home Depot (HD) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) were the Dow laggards, down $1.32 to $61.88 and 27 cents to $14.46, respectively. The probable cause for Home Depot was profit-taking. The stock is the Dow's third-best performer this year, up 47.2%, and hit a 12-year high of $63.20 on Friday.

Hewlett-Packard was lower as investors wonder if it can ever be turned around.

Facebook fell 51 cents to $20.40 after a BTIG analyst lowered his rating on the company to "sell" from "neutral." He said Facebook's efforts to make money off its services could come at the expense of users' experiences with its services.

Netflix (NFLX), up $6.96 to $73.52, was the top performer among S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 stocks. Morgan Stanley analyst Scott Devitt raised his rating on Netflix's stock to "overweight" from "equal weight."

Used-car dealer Carmax (KMX) was second among S&P 500 stocks, up 2.67 to $31.86. JDS Uniphase (JDSU), LSI Logic (LSI) and Jabil Circuit (JBL) were the S&P 500 laggards.

Sears Holdings (SHLD) , up $1.80 to $58.58, and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), up 41 cents to $22.54, were the Nasdaq-100 leaders after Netflix. Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN), Apple and Qualcomm were the laggards.

Short hits from the markets -- New York close
			Mon.			Fri.			Month chg.			YTD chg.
Treasury yields
13-week Treasury bill			0.1000%			0.100%			11.11%			900.00%
5-year Treasury note			0.676%			0.667%			7.30%			-18.55%
10-year Treasury note			1.746%			1.732%			6.66%			-6.68%
30-year Treasury bond			3.032%			3.032%			0.00%			4.95%
Currencies
U.S. Dollar Index			79.622			79.428			-0.50%			-1.12%
British pound			1.6041			1.6142			-0.74%			3.24%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in pounds			£0.623			£0.620			0.74%			-3.14%
Euro in dollars			$1.30			$1.30			0.89%			0.09%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. $ in euros			€ 0.771			€ 0.768			-0.89%			-0.09%
U.S. $ in yen			78.37			78.66			0.51%			1.65%
U.S. $ in Chinese			6.31			6.32			0.47%			-0.25%
yuan
Canada dollar			$1.024			$1.023			0.72%			4.38%
(in U.S. $)
U.S. dollar			$0.977			$0.978			-0.64%			-4.20%
(in Canadian $)
Commodities
Gold (-GC)			$1,775.70			$1,780.80			0.10%			13.33%
(per troy ounce)
Copper (-HG)			$3.718			$3.778			-1.06%			8.21%
(per pound)
Silver (-SI)			$34.0170			$34.5720			-1.62%			21.86%
(per troy ounce)
Wheat (-ZW)			$8.6100			$8.5750			-4.60%			31.90%
(per bushel)
Corn (-ZC)			$7.4200			$7.480			-1.88%			14.77%
(per bushel)
Cotton			$0.7178			0.7149			1.60%			-21.71%
(per pound)
Coffee			$1.6910			1.681			-2.54%			-26.37%
(per pound)
Crude oil (-CL)			$89.33			$89.88			-3.10%			-9.61%
(per barrel)