US markets closed mostly lower as Apple Inc. drops

15 Jan 2013 Evaluate

The US markets closed mostly lower on Monday, after Apple Inc. declined on reports that the company had cut iPhone production plans because sales come in below expectations, pushing two of the three benchmark indexes into negative territory. Meanwhile, with a battle looming with Congress in the weeks ahead over hiking the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling, Republican lawmakers are considering a government shutdown or default as a way to force cuts in government spending. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called the debt-ceiling debate the perfect time to confront government spending, and House Speaker John Boehner also indicated his intention to link spending cuts to hiking the debt ceiling. In Washington, President Barack Obama talked about efforts to reduce the US deficit in which he urged lawmakers not to use the debt ceiling as leverage in the political wrangling over government spending.

Meanwhile, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans stated that the central bank should continue to keep monetary policy accommodative as lawmakers cut US spending. Charles Evans added that the US economy is expected to grow 2.5% in the current year and improve further to 3.5% in 2014. Evans also estimated that US unemployment rate is likely to dip to 7.4% and may fall further to 7% in 2014. Separately, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke stated that he isn’t aware of any new stimulus tool for the central bank to use to try to boost growth. Additionally, US Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner stated that the so-called extraordinary measures he’s taking to avoid breaching the debt ceiling would work only until mid- February to early March and warned that failure by Congress to raise the limit could impose severe economic hardship on the country. Geithner added that Congress should act as early as possible to extend normal borrowing authority in order to avoid the risk of default and any interruption in payments.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 18.89 points or 0.14 percent to 13,507.30, the Nasdaq dropped 8.13 points or 0.26 percent to 3,117.50 and the S&P 500 closed lower by 1.37 points or 0.09 percent to 1,470.68.

Indian ADRs closed mostly in green on Monday, HDFC Bank was up 1.32%, ICICI Bank was up 0.49% and Tata Communications was up 0.19%. On the other hand, Tata Motors was down 0.48% and Infosys was down 0.29%. 

© 2026 The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. MoneyWorks4Me ® is a registered trademark of The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.

×