Wall Street shares started lower, as had been indicated by futures, as tech giant Apple NASDAQ:AAPL) weighed on the Nasdaq index.
Shares were down over 7% in New York to US$96.91 as the group reported a 13% drop in revenue after the bell on Tuesday, the first dip in 13 years, which it blames on the ever slipping sales of its flagship iPhone.
The tech heavy Nasdaq index was down over 37 at the time of writing at 4,850, while the broader S&P500 lost 1.7 to 2,090.
The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Index is down almost 13 at 17,977.
Connor Campbell at Spreadex.com, said: " Having spent years as the market’s darling the Apple is now experiencing what it is like to be on the other side of the equation, investors sending the stock 8% lower in after-hours trading as its quarterly revenue fell for the first 13 years."
Also causing a degree of nervousness is the Fed announcement expected soon after a two day policy meeting. Consensus is that there will not be an interest rate rise, but the uncertainty always sparks market unease.
A notable small cap riser riser was Cerebain Biotech (OTCQB: CBBT), which gained over 33% to US$0.50 as it said it intended to seek FDA approval for the development and testing of its medical device for the treatment of Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
In the UK at the time of writing, FTSE100 was up 0.24% at 6,299 despite reports that gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 0.4% quarter-on-quarter from 0.6% in the final quarter of 2015, but this was in line with consensus forecasts.