Apple shares fall as demand weakens

Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Apple shares fall as demand weakens 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

Number of the day

$501.75

That's the price Apple stock closed at Monday, the lowest level since February last year, after the Nikkei newswire reported that the company has curbed iPhone production on weak demand. Apple cut in half its original plan to order 65 million iPhone 5 displays this quarter, the report said. Production curbs for the device, which is facing increasing competition from manufacturers using Google's Android software, may also be due to inventory rebalancing and suppliers becoming more efficient, analysts said.

Hear here

"It's still an over-brokered industry and it will continue to shrink."

MBA BY THE BAY: See how an MBA could change your life with SFGATE's interactive directory of Bay Area programs.

Alec Levine, an equity derivatives strategist at Newedge, on banks shrinking their stocks businesses amid declining trading volumes and an increase in lower-cost automated transactions. The number of employees on equities desks fell by 8.5 percent globally in the first nine months of last year, according to a survey by analytics firm Coalition. Equity volume has declined around the world. Volumes on U.S. exchanges dropped 18 percent last year. Story on page D2.

Heads up

Facebook has a media event scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at its Menlo Park headquarters. The topic isn't disclosed; the invitation simply says: "Come and see what we're building." Some investors have speculated the social network may use the event to assuage concerns about controversial ad policy changes for its Instagram photo-sharing service. Others anticipate Facebook, which saw its stock hit a six-month high on Friday, may announce a new Web search or advertising platform.