NEW YORK — A rare earnings miss by Apple pulled down technology stocks Wednesday. Broad market indexes turned lower in late-afternoon trading on reports of an impasse in talks to resolve Europe’s debt crisis.
The leaders of Germany, France, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank met Wednesday in preparation for a summit scheduled for this weekend. Markets sank and the price of oil fell after a report came out that France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy said Germany and France were in a deadlock over how to expand an emergency fund.
The Dow closed at 11,504.62, a loss of 72.43 points, or 0.6 percent. On Tuesday, the Dow closed half a point below where it started the year.
“The big theme this week is what’s going to happen in Europe over the weekend,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. “If a Greece or another country defaults, it could do real damage to Europe. If that pushes Europe into a recession, it will further clip the pace of global growth.”
The Dow had traded higher for most of the day but started to slump when the report of the impasse came out. Within an hour, it was down 88 points.
Citigroup and other banks turned lower. It was the latest in a series of sudden turns for the market. Shifting expectations for the European meeting Sunday have rattled markets every day this week.
Apple Inc. dropped 5.6 percent after the company’s income and revenue fell short of forecasts. It was a rare miss for the company, which had jumped 31 percent this year through Tuesday. Apple blamed the shortfall on a later-than- usual release of its newest iPhone.
Apple’s results helped drag down technology stocks. The Nasdaq composite slid 53.39, or 2 percent, to 2,604.04. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 15.50, or 1.3 percent, to 1,209.88.
