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Markets Take Breather as Q3 Earnings, Prime Day, iPhone 12 Arrive

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Market indexes dipped going into the final minutes of trading this Tuesday, following the S&P 500 into the red for the first time in the last five trading sessions. While plenty of built-up excitement regarding Q3 earnings results, Amazon’s (AMZN - Free Report) Prime Day and Apple’s (AAPL - Free Report) new iPhone unveiling was at hand, market participants took the opportunity to book some profits and take a look around.

The S&P 500 was down 0.63% on the day, led by Financials dropping nearly 2% as JPMorgan (JPM - Free Report) and Citigroup (C - Free Report) put out Q3 earnings ahead of today’s open, down 1.6% and 4.8%, respectively. The Dow, which also includes JPMorgan, lost 0.55% or 157 points today, with the Nasdaq just barely nudging into the red. This was helped by the Apple unveiling of its new iPhone 12 series and price points, which failed to generate much enthusiasm — Apple shares were down 2.6% Tuesday. Even the small-cap Russell 2000, which had been outperforming the higher-profile indexes, was down 0.74% on the day.

For the record, the iPhone 12 lists for $799; the 12 mini is $699. The iPhone 12 Pro goes for $999 and the 12 Max is $1099. All feature wireless charging, camera improvements, a ceramic shield for protection, and, of course, access to 5G technology where available. Pre-orders for the 12 and Pro start this Friday, with shipments expected next week. For the Mini and Max, pre-orders won’t begin until the first week of November, with shipments beginning the following week. Oh well, I guess the wait will get users a little closer to nationwide 5G access than they have currently…

Prime Day from Amazon is normally an event help in the middle of the summer, but was delayed due to pandemic difficulties. It lasts through Wednesday and expects to generate roughly $10 billion in revenues, $6.2 billion of which would be derived from the U.S. Amazon typically does not report Prime Day results in and of themselves, but the boost to Q4 revenues ought to be at least partially visible in that quarter’s earnings statement after the first of the year.

That said, after growing in share price 84% from the start of 2020 (including late-trading, where AMZN is up 0.43% at this hour), like with Apple’s latest offering, genuine excitement is a tad elusive. Analysts will surmise for themselves how they think Prime Day went compared to expectations in the days and weeks to come; until then, Amazon reports its fiscal Q2 2020 earnings a week from Thursday.

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