Investing.com -- U.S. stocks fell mildly on Tuesday extending a minor losing streak, as sharp losses from Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) weighed on all three major indices after the world's largest company plunged to a six-month low.
Apple finished Tuesday's session as the worst performer on the Dow Jones Industrial Average and among the weakest performers on the NASDAQ Composite Index after falling by as much as 4.4% on the day. Apple shares closed on Tuesday at $114.66, down 3.78 or 3.19% on the session. Since reporting worse than expected earnings for its third quarter of fiscal year 2015 on July 21, Apple has seen its stock decline by roughly 12%. Apple shares are also down approximately 15% after reaching an all-time high of 134.54 in April.
The Dow remained in negative territory after losing 47.51 or 0.27% to close at 17,550.69. The NASDAQ, meanwhile, dropped 9.83 or 0.19% to 5,105.55, amid downward pressure from tech and semiconductor stocks. The S&P 500 Composite Index also fell 4.72 or 0.22% to 2,093.32, as seven of 10 sectors closed in the red. Stocks in the Utilities industry lagged, falling more than 1.6% for the day.
While analysts continue to struggle to pinpoint the origins of Apple's precipitous fall, Tuesday's sell-off could be attributed to the ramifications of a report that surfaced one session earlier. The report from Business Insider, quoting sources close to Apple, said the tech giant is in talks with U.S. and European telecommunications companies to offer its mobile phone service on a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) basis. Under the reported proposal, a user would pay Apple for all calls, texts and other data instead of paying a carrier such as Verizon or T-Mobile. Apple officials denied the MVNO service operating report.
The top performer on the Dow was Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which added 0.82 or 1.75% to 47.63. The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX), after the company announced it will launch its online streaming service in Japan on September 2. Shares in Netflix soared 8.55 or 7.60% to 121.11, at one point reaching a session-high of 122.78. Netflix's Board of Directors completed a 7-for-1 stock split earlier this summer. The worst performer was Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ:LRCX), which fell 2.77 or 3.66% to 72.97.
Netflix was also the top performer on the S&P 500, just above Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) which jumped 6.10 or 6.80% to 95.76. Earlier on Tuesday, Vulcan Materials reported an 83% spike in adjusted earnings for the second quarter amid slightly higher revenues and an improved margin. The worst performer was Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK), which plunged more than 14% to 106.59, after the Irish drugmaker downgraded its sales forecasts for its HP Achtar Gel on Tuesday. Last year, the drug company acquired Questcor, the manufacturer of the gel for $5.6 billion.
On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners outnumbered advancers by a 1,680 to 1,441 margin.