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New York - US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, with the Dow surging sharply higher and Apple dragging down the Nasdaq after its iPhone launch missed expectations.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 135.54 points (0.89%) to 15,326.60.
The broad-market S&P 500 index advanced 5.14 (0.31%) to 1,689.13, while the tech-rich Nasdaq dipped 4.01 (0.11%) to 3,725.01.
After two days of gains, the stock indexes diverged as Apple took a beating a day after unveiling two new iPhones and dashing expectations that a media event in Beijing would reveal a deal with China Mobile, the country's biggest carrier.
The technology giant's shares sank 5.4% to $467.71.
"The company failed to impress the analyst community with its latest iPhone introductions and the lack of an announcement of a China Mobile deal," said Patrick O'Hare of Briefing.com.
Apple also suffered downgrades, including from Bank of America and UBS.
Wall Street had little reaction to President Barack Obama's televised address to the nation late on Tuesday, when he opened the door to a diplomatic solution to a military strike on Syria, O'Hare said.
"The speech wasn't surprising and the relief that a diplomatic solution looks possible has been priced in."
The economic calendar was light. Mortgage applications fell 13.5% last week from the prior week, and refinancing applications dropped 20% to its lowest level since June 2009, amid rising interest rates, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association report.
Verizon Communications edged up 0.1% as it launched a $49bn bond sale, by far the largest corporate bond sale in history.
Verizon is issuing new debt to help fund its $130bn buyout of Vodafone's 45% stake in their joint venture Verizon Wireless.
Other tech stocks scored strong gains. On the Dow, IBM jumped 2.2% and Microsoft rose 1.1%.
Texas Instruments fell 0.7% after lowering its earnings and profit forecast for the third quarter.
General Motors slid 1.8%. The Canadian government and Ontario province announced they had sold about a fifth of their share in General Motors, four years after joining a US bailout of the auto giant.
Home furnishings retailer Restoration Hardware Holdings plunged 11.9% after reporting a swing into loss in its fiscal second quarter as sales fell 4.7% from a year earlier.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.91% from 2.96% late on Tuesday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.85% from 3.89%. Prices and yields move inversely.
