Stocks Opened Lower, Apple and Boeing Tumbled

U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday tracking a renewed rout in oil prices amid a flurry of weaker-than-expected earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately lost 113.34 points, or 0.70%, to 16,053.89. The S&P 500 fell 6.27 points, or 0.33%, to 1,897.36. The Nasdaq Composite was down 32.41 points, or 0.71%, to 4,535.27.

OPEC is renewing efforts among members and producers from outside the group for a deal to fix an oil glut and boost prices, but it is too early to say whether the attempt will work, OPEC sources said on Wednesday.

Brent crude was last down 26 cents at $31.54 a barrel by 1347 GMT, having hit a session low of $30.83, in lockstep with European equities edging off the day’s lows. U.S. futures fell 65 cents to $30.80 a barrel.

Flat sales of the iPhone and a warning from CEO Tim Cook on 2016 sent Apple shares sliding Wednesday. The company sold 74.8 million iPhones in the first quarter, up 1% from the year before but short of what Wall Street expected.

Boeing Co (BA.N) forecast 2016 core earnings below estimates on Wednesday, and said it expected to deliver fewer commercial planes this year.Boeing also reported weaker fourth-quarter profit. Boeing forecast 2016 core earnings to be between $8.15 and $8.35 per share. Net income fell to $1.03 billion, or $1.51 per share, in the fourth quarter, from $1.47 billion, or $2.02 per share, a year earlier.

Biogen Inc. (BIIB) beat fourth-quarter profit and sales expectations. Earnings came in at $831.6 million, or $3.77 a share, compared with $883.5 million, or $3.74 a share, in the same period a year ago. Revenue rose $2.84 billion from $2.64 billion.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. (CFG) shares rose in the extended session Tuesday after S&P Dow Jones Indices said it would add the regional bank to the S&P 500 Index.