US stocks fall, shrugging off strong Apple earnings

New York - Wall Street stocks finished solidly lower on Wednesday as the market shrugged off strong Apple earnings and a Federal Reserve decision not to hike interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.7% at 23 924.98.

The broad-based S&P 500 also fell 0.7% to close at 2 635.67, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.4% to 7 100.90.

Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, said the declines reflect "resistance" amid worries over a trade war, tightening monetary policy and ongoing political turmoil in Washington.

President Donald Trump's attorney Ty Cobb on Wednesday became the latest staffer to exit the White House as a probe into the presidential campaign's contacts with Russia picks up speed.

"You've got a whole bunch of macro news juxtaposed with strong earnings that are largely being ignored," Hogan said.

"It's a market that gets sold on rallies rather than bought on dips."

Hogan was troubled that strong earnings from Apple did not ignite a broader rally.

Apple shares jumped 4.4% after reporting better-than-expected earnings late Tuesday and unveiling a new $100bn share buyback plan.

The outcome was similar to last week, when Amazon shares jumped on strong earnings, but the broader market ignored the results.

The Fed, meanwhile, kept interest rates unchanged as expected as it acknowledged an uptick in inflation while continuing to pledge further gradual increases in the benchmark lending rate.

Analysts said the Fed decision kept the odds high that the US central bank would lift rates again in June, but would not accelerate the pace of rate increases.

Gilead Sciences plunged 7.8% after reporting a 43.1% drop in first-quarter profit to $1.5bn following a big drop in sales for hepatitis drugs.

Snap plummeted 22.1% as it reported a $386m loss and lower-than-expected quarterly revenues.