Stock exchange traded funds were stuck in sideways trading after the rare Apple (NasdaqGM: AAPL) earnings miss and weaker-than-expected new home sales.
The SPDR S&P 500 (NYSEArca: SPY) and the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (NYSEArca: 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 (NYSEArca: 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 (NYSEArca: ITB) declined 2.7% Wednesday.