By Yashaswini Swamynathan
(Reuters) - Wall Street was lower on Wednesday morning as Apple's weak results weighed on technology stocks but a sharp recovery in oil prices limited some losses.
Shares of the world's most valuable public company fell 3.7 percent - set for their worst day in six months - after the company said sales of its flagship iPhones fell for the third quarter in a row.
Apple was the top drag on all three major indexes. The S&P 500 technology index fell 0.72 percent, dragging down the benchmark index the most.
Oil prices, which fell to as low as $49.65, were trading at session highs after data showed a surprise draw in U.S. crude inventories. [O/R]
Movement on Wall Street has largely been dictated by corporate earnings in the past few weeks, but events such as the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election and the Federal Reserve's policy meet next week have added volatility.
Overall earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 2.2 percent, snapping a four-quarter streak of profit declines, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Excluding Apple, earnings are expected to grow at a 2.9 percent rate.
"The markets have been rallying in anticipation of good numbers and earnings have been coming in a little bit soft," said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago.
The CBOE Market Volatility index was up for the second day in a row, after having been in negative territory for the past five trading days.
"While earnings in the technology sector haven't been fabulous, you are going to have better performance in general out of the sector, because revenue is still growing and they have great cash flow," Nolte said.
At 10:44 a.m. ET (1444 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 8.29 points, or 0.05 percent, at 18,160.98.
The S&P 500 was down 4.13 points, or 0.19 percent, at 2,139.03 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 20.42 points, or 0.39 percent, at 5,262.98.
Biogen rose 4.3 percent after the drugmaker reported a rise in quarterly profit that blew past estimates.
Chipotle Mexican Grill was on track for its worst day this year, with its shares off 7.5 percent after the restaurant chain operator reported a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly sales at established restaurants.
Edwards Lifesciences was the biggest loser on the S&P 500, falling 13.8 percent after the medical device maker reported third-quarter sales that missed expectations.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,734 to 977. On the Nasdaq, 1,420 issues fell and 1,045 advanced.
The S&P 500 index showed seven new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 36 new highs and 45 new lows.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)
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