Stock market news: Dow falls 206 points, Apple enters bear market

Traders
and financial professionals work ahead of the closing bell on the
floor on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), October 26, 2018 in
New York City. The Dow Jones Industrial average was down nearly
another 300 points at the close on Friday. Disappointing earnings
numbers from key technology companies, including Amazon and
Alphabet, were driving forces for the markets’
slide.

Drew
Angerer/Getty Images

• US equity markets fell for a fifth straight
  day.
• The major averages pared their losses after Prime
  Minister Theresa May said in a statement that her Cabinet
  backed her Brexit plan.
• Apple shares slid into a bear market, down more than
  20% from their October peak.

The US equity markets fell for a fifth straight day Wednesday,
paring their losses after Prime Minister
Theresa May’s cabinet backed a draft of her Brexit
plan. 

All three of the major averages were down as much as 1.4%, before
ending lower by about 0.8%. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average fell 350 points at its worst levels, and
settled down 206 points.    

In a statement, May said that her Cabinet held a “long, detailed,
and impassioned debate” but eventually agreed to move ahead with
the deal. The draft agreement will now pass to the EU council
later this month, where it will be inspected by the EU’s other 27
countries and voted on.

Tech stocks remained in focus as Apple fell 2.9% after Guggenheim
analyst Mark Cihra warned that
higher average selling prices for iPhones wouldn’t be able to
offset weaker demand. Wednesday’s drop sent shares into
a bear market, down more than 20% from their October peak. 

Meanwhile, bank stocks were under pressure, with the KBW Bank
Index falling 1.5%, after Rep.
Maxine Waters, who is set to take charge of the House
Financial Services Committee, said that “the days of this
committee weakening regulations and putting our economy once
again at risk of another financial crisis will come to an
end.” 

Elsewhere, Snap
shed 3.4% after the company revealed it was
subpoenaed by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange
Commission on concerns related to disclosures in the filing
of its initial public offering. 

On the commodities front, crude oil ended its
record 12-day losing streak as a rally early in the US
session lifted prices by as much as 3%.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the US benchmark gained
about 0.8% to $56.16 a barrel. 

Looking at the economy, consumer prices in the US climbed at a
2.5% year-over-year clip, their
fastest pace in nine months, as gains in the costs of
gasoline and rents made the biggest contribution. 

Modest buying across the US Treasury market pushed yields lower
by as much as five basis points, with the benchmark 10-year yield
easing to 3.11%.   

And
bitcoin was down more than 13% at its worst levels of the day
as traders positioned themselves for the upcoming hard fork in
its rival, bitcoin
cash. The cryptocurrency briefly slipped below $5,400 —
touching its lowest level since October 2017.