Thursday's early afternoon trade: stocks fall on mixed economic data; Apple weighs

Wall Street was lower in afternoon trading on Thursday as Apple weighed on major indexes and investors digested a mixed batch of economic data. Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors were down, with the technology index retreating 1.2 percent. The Nasdaq biotech index dropped 2.2 percent, led by Celgene Apple fell as much as 2.6 percent to $125.25 and was the biggest drag on the Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The company limited the availability of the Apple Watch after a key component was found to be defective, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Investors were also digesting a mixed bag of economic data which came in a day after data showed that the US economy slowed to a crawl in the first quarter. Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James, said investors were operating in a period of high uncertainty. "I think its very, very healthy to see some back and forth in the equity markets. Economic data is still going to be a bit mixed in the near term and that can be used as a crutch for the markets." At 13:24 pm EDT (1724 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was down 102.53 points, or 0.57 percent, at 17,933, the S&P 500 was down 12.79 points, or 0.61 percent, at 2,094.06 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 51.74 points, or 1.03 percent, at 4,971.90.