Stock exchange traded funds were stuck in sideways trading after the rare Apple (AAPL) earnings miss and weaker-than-expected new home sales.
The SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) were both unchanged at last check Wednesday.
Apple, the largest company by market capitalization, revealed late Tuesday earnings and revenues that missed analysts’ expectations due to lower iPhone sales, marking the second time in the past 39 quarters that results were lower-than-expected, reports Matt Jarzemsky for The Wall Street Journal.
The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) was down 0.3% Wednesday. AAPL accounts for 20.1% of the fund’s holdings.
According to the U.S. Commerce Department, new home sales dropped 8.4% to a 350,000 annual rate, the lowest since January.
“A dearth of construction has led to a very significant inventory shortage,” Carl Riccadonna, a senior U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., said in a Bloomberg report. “If you want to buy a newly built home, good luck finding one.”
The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB) declined 2.7% Wednesday.
Across the pond, European stock ETFs were slightly positive. The Vanguard MSCI Europe ETF (VGK) was up 1.0% Wednesday.
The Office for National Statistics in the U.K., unexpectedly announced a 0.7% drop in economic growth over the second quarter, the highest lowest decline since 2009. The United Kingdom is hosting this year’s Olympic games, with the Opening Ceremony starting late Friday. [United Kingdom ETF and the Olympics]
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For full disclosure, Tom Lydon’s clients own SPY.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
