London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index dropped 1.02 percent to stand at 6,699.70 points in early afternoon deals, with mining companies hit hard by stubborn worries over Chinese demand.
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Gold lost $12 to $1,091.50 an ounce. Wheat extended its longest slump in 13 months amid rising supplies.
Elsewhere, European stocks slid as the force of Wall Street’s disappointing earnings was felt across the Atlantic, while Asian equities closed mostly lower.
The New York company said it had net income of $1.04 per share.
The Nasdaq is still leading all major US markets higher, up 10 percent for the year.
“Markets are going to get more volatile” Nader Naeimi, head of dynamic asset allocation at AMP Capital Investors Ltd.in Sydney, said by phone. Crude-oil futures dropped following a surprise increase in USA inventories. If this happens, then Apple might face a short-term problem concerning its share price. Much of the focus was on Apple, however, which rarely disappoints.
Swings in Apple’s shares can spark big moves in the major stock indexes. The MSCI All Country World Index fell 0.3 percent.
“We stepped right into the beginning of this week with IBM disappointing, followed by Microsoft, Apple and a couple of others, so we are just getting a little bit of heartburn in the market from those earnings releases on the tech side”, David Schiegoleit, managing director of investments at the Private Client Reserve of US Bank in Los Angeles, told Reuters.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 SPX, -0.43% and Nasdaq Composite each suffered moderate losses, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq COMP, -0.21% retreating from a record close. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dipped 0.9%, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.4%. After subtracting its advertising commissions, revenue was $1.04 billion, exceeding Street forecasts of $1.03 billion.
The euro was steady at $1.0945 following a 1 percent rebound on Tuesday. The stock rose 64 cents, or 3.4 percent, to $19.45. Korea’s won jumped 0.4 percent after sinking the past two days.
Chipotle’s growth in same-restaurant sales slowed to 4.3 percent in the second quarter from double-digit percentage growth in the five prior quarters.
Australia’s dollar slipped 0.1 percent after the weaker- than-estimated inflation reading and as the rout in commodities resumed.
Even with Wednesday’s pullback, stocks remain near all-time highs. Apple dropped almost 8 percent in after-hours trading, falling to the $121 level and now traders are watching to see if it holds its 200-day moving average at around $119.
Meanwhile, there were more reasons for optimism for the USA housing industry.
Trading volume was down for the entire U.S. market. The index slid 0.1 percent in the regular session, halting an eight-day rally of 7.5 percent that pushed it to a 15-year high.
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ARM Holdings Plc declined 4.7% to 990.39 pence after the U.K.-based microprocessors maker said revenues in the first-half ending in June soared 22% to £456 million form £373.7 million in a year ago period.
