U.S. stocks lose steam as Apple falls
Dollar’s slide bolsters commodity prices and corporate outlooks
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks erased the bulk of Tuesday’s gains, with the S&P 500 index retreating from a four-year high that came on optimism that Europe would take steps to contain its debt crisis.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares turned lower along with reports the technology company and Samsung Electronics Co. had failed efforts to settle a potentially costly patent dispute, with a federal judge Tuesday afternoon starting to read instructions to a jury in San Jose.

Shares of Apple were lately off $10.75, or 1.6%, at $654.40 a piece.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) declined 10.61 points to 13,261.0.

The S&P 500 index (SNC:SPX) gained a fraction to 1,418.27, with telecom and technology the worst performers and financials the best among its 10 industry groups.

The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ:COMP) fell 5.49 points to 3,070.72.

“The market’s had some good sponsorship from the economic reports we’ve had the last few weeks, expectations had dropped to such low levels, it opened the door to positive surprises to the upside,” Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co., said of U.S. economic data, some of which has surpassed estimates, including the July jobs and retail sales reports.

“The European situation, while certainly not resolved, has allowed the pressure to come off the dollar, which has helped commodity prices, the energy sector and the material sector, and added to the market’s upside pressure as well,” Bittles added.
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