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Friday 30 June 2017 BUSINESS
A24

Steep slide in tech companies pulls US stocks lower

By ALEX VEIGA The Commerce Depart-
AP Business Writer ment said that the nation’s
A steep slide in technol- gross domestic product,
ogy companies pulled the broadest measure
U.S. stocks lower Thursday, of economic health, in-
erasing gains from the pre- creased at an annual rate
vious day. of 1.4 percent in the first
Investors also sold big-divi- quarter.
dend stocks as bond yields That’s better than the pre-
rose. Banks and energy vious estimate of 1.2 per-
stocks bucked the broader cent and double the initial
market decline. Crude oil estimate of 0.7 percent.
prices closed higher for the The upgrade reflects new-
sixth straight day. found strength in consum-
The shift out of the technol- er spending and exports.
ogy sector came as inves- Still, investors appeared
tors bet central bankers more focused on the possi-
may be ready to lift rates. bility of higher interest rates
That spurred many traders following recent remarks
to move out of growth sec- from the president of the
tors, like technology, and European Central Bank
into value stocks, such as and the governor of the
banks, said Erik Davidson, Trader Joseph Lawler works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, June 29, 2017. Bank of England.
chief investment officer at A steep slide in technology companies pulled U.S. stocks lower Thursday, erasing gains from the “We’ve had a lot of com-
Wells Fargo Private Bank. previous day. mentary from central
“It’s been a good day for (AP Photo/Richard Drew) bankers around the world
energy and financials and sector that has done best average was down briefly Treasury yield rose to 2.27 suggesting perhaps that it
a terrible day in particular so far this year is technol- more than 257 points. percent from 2.23 percent is within the field of vision
for technology,” Davidson ogy.” The Nasdaq composite lost late Wednesday. that we could see some of
said. The Standard & Poor’s 500 90.06 points, or 1.4 percent, The stock market was com- the accommodation be-
“To the extent that you’re index fell 20.99 points, or 0.9 to 6,144.35. The Russell 2000 ing off its biggest gain in ing removed from the sys-
going to be looking to put percent, to 2,419.70. The index of small-company two months. The market tem,” said Eric Wiegand,
money into financials, into Dow Jones industrial aver- stocks gave up 9.07 points, slide came about despite senior portfolio manager
energy, you have to pull it age slid 167.58 points, or 0.8 or 0.6 percent, to 1,416.20. some encouraging news for Private Wealth Man-
from somewhere, and the percent, to 21,287.03. The Bond prices fell. The 10-year on the U.S. economy. agement at U.S. Bank. q
Blue Apron IPO delivers flat first day on stock market

By JOSEPH PISANI vestors for its IPO. goods mogul Martha Stew-
AP Business Writer Blue Apron ships boxes to art. But CEO Matthew Sal-
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall customers filled with all the zberg dismissed concerns
Street was not hungry for raw ingredients needed about competition. He said
Blue Apron. The meal kit to make home-cooked in a TV interview Thursday
company’s shares ended meals. It has many rivals, that more competition will
unchanged Thursday in including HelloFresh and only help convince people
their first full day on the Plated, and there are con- to skip the supermarket
stock market. cerns that competition to and buy their groceries on-
The stock rose as much as deliver groceries to peo- line. “In some ways, Ama-
10 percent after its debut, ple’s doorsteps will only zon is an ally for us in this
but it ended Thursday at heat up after e-commerce fight,” Salzberg told busi-
$10. That’s the same at its giant Amazon.com Inc. an- ness news channel CNBC.
initial public offering price. nounced plans to buy or- Still, Blue Apron raised less
On Wednesday, Blue ganic grocer Whole Foods money than it had origi- Blue Apron CEO Matt Salzberg addresses company employees
Apron lowered what it ex- earlier this month. nally hoped. The New York outside the New York Stock Exchange before the IPO begins
pected its shares to sell for, In some cities, Amazon al- company sold 30 million trading, Thursday, June 29, 2017.
a sign that the company ready sells meal kits with shares in its initial public of- (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
had trouble attracting in- recipes created by home fering at $10 per share, rais-
ing $300 million. Last week, The IPO valued Blue Apron penses related to running
it expected the shares to at about $1.9 billion. the company, according
sell between $15 and $17, Salzberg, 33, co-founded to government filings.
which would have given Blue Apron five years ago. Blue Apron’s cheapest kit,
the company as much as The company has never which makes four servings,
$510 million. made a profit, and it re- costs about $48. Each box
But it lowered that range ported a loss of $55 million comes with pre-portioned
to between $10 and $11 last year, but its sales have ingredients such as raw
per share on Wednesday. soared. It posted revenue meat, seafood and veg-
Blue Apron Holdings Inc. of $795.4 million for 2016, etables, as well as season-
first filed to become a pub- more than double its level ings. There are also recipe
lic company June 1, about the year before. It spent cards to help customers
two weeks before the Am- nearly 70 percent of last cook up meals such as
azon-Whole Foods deal year’s revenue on food, basil fettuccine or quinoa
was announced. shipping and other ex- burgers. q