NEW YORK, December 29, 2025, 09:41 ET — Regular session
- Apple shares down about 0.2% in early trade as investors trim mega-cap tech into year-end
- Markets eye Federal Reserve minutes and jobless claims in a holiday-thinned week
- Wells Fargo reiterates an Overweight rating, citing China shipment data as an iPhone demand proxy
Apple shares edged lower in early New York trading on Monday, slipping about 0.2% to $273.40.
The pullback comes as heavyweight technology stocks give back some ground after last week’s gains pushed the S&P 500 to fresh highs and left it within about 1% of the 7,000 mark, Reuters reported.
Why it matters now: trading volumes are expected to be light in the holiday-affected week, with U.S. markets shut on Thursday for New Year’s Day. Some investors had been looking for a “Santa Claus rally” — a seasonal tendency for stocks to rise in late December and early January — but early moves on Monday pointed to profit-taking instead. Reuters
Rate-cut expectations remain a key driver for growth stocks such as Apple, where lower yields can support higher valuations. “We’re not seeing runaway inflation risk as a base case,” Fidelity International multi-asset portfolio manager Becky Qin said. Reuters
The Fed cut its main policy rate this month, and money markets are pricing two more quarter-point cuts by September, Reuters reported.
On the stock-specific front, Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers reiterated an “Overweight” rating on Apple and kept a $300 price target, StreetInsider reported. “Overweight” is Wall Street shorthand for expecting a stock to outperform its sector or benchmark. StreetInsider.com
Rakers pointed to recent China industry figures that investors watch as a read-through on iPhone demand. Data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), released on Dec. 25, showed shipments of foreign-branded phones in China rose 128.4% year-on-year in November.
Foreign-branded shipments totaled 6.93 million units, while overall phone shipments rose 1.9% to 30.16 million units, according to Reuters calculations from the CAICT release. Investors often treat that foreign-brand category as a rough proxy for iPhone momentum in China.
Beyond Apple, traders were also watching broader weakness across tech and AI-linked names after last week’s run, Reuters said, a dynamic that can sway Apple because of its outsized weight in major indexes.
Macro data could set the tone for the rest of the week. Investors are focused on the minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting — the detailed account of the central bank’s policy discussion — due on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
A weekly reading on U.S. jobless claims is also on the radar, in an otherwise data-light week, Reuters said. Both releases can move Treasury yields, which often steer appetite for long-duration growth stocks such as Apple.
The next big company test is Apple’s holiday-quarter report, typically its most important earnings release. Wall Street Horizon forecasts an unconfirmed earnings date of Jan. 29 after the market close, based on Apple’s historical reporting pattern.
For now, Apple’s shares were holding just below $274 after opening at $274.10. Investors are watching whether the stock can stay firm around the $270 area into the turn of the year as liquidity thins.
