Stocks open mixed as Apple shares drop

2 hrs.

JeeYeon Park , CNBC

Stocks opened mixed Monday, after logging their second-straight weekly gain, amid worries over global demand for Apple's iPhone 5 and ahead of a busy week of corporate earnings.?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened slightly higher, after logging its second weekly gain.?

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both opened in negative territory. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 13.

Apple fell amid news that the company cut orders for parts on its troubled iPhone 5 due to weak demand. Shares traded near $500, a level the company hasn't traded below since last February.?

While there are no major economic reports due Monday, several members of the Federal Reserve are scheduled to speak.?

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak at 4 p.m. ET, in his first speech since the Fed's meeting minutes indicated that some policymakers wanted to end the bond buying program before year end.?

San Francisco Fed President John Williams and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart will also speak throughout the day.?

Earlier, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans gave an upbeat outlook for the economy in 2013. Evans forecast the U.S. will grow by 2.5 percent in 2013 and 3.5 percent in 2014. The speech was his first since mid-2011 in which he did not make an explicit call for further monetary easing. Evans was less sanguine on unemployment however, forecasting a rate of 7.4 percent in 2013, easing slightly to 7 percent in 2014.?

European and Asian shares posted modest gains. In China, a top securities regulator said Beijing could significantly increase its maximum quota for foreign investors investing in mainland China.?

Fourth-quarter earnings will kick off in earnest later this week when most major banks including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America will report results. (Read More: Bank Earnings: What to Watch For)?

Among techs, Hewlett-Packard edged higher after after JPMorgan upgraded its rating on the tech company to "neutral" from "underweight" and raised its price target to $21 from $15.

Cisco Systems rose after R.W. Baird boosted the company to "outperform" from "neutral," saying the company is executing very well in a challenging macroeconomic environment.

And Facebook gained after Deutsche Bank lifted its rating on the social-networking giant to "buy" from "hold," saying mobile newsfeed ads are providing the company with more revenue momentum than any other firms the brokerage covers.?

Coming later?this?week:

• TUESDAY: PPI, retail sales
• WEDNESDAY: Weekly mortgage applications, CPI, industrial production, housing market index?
• THURSDAY: Housing starts, jobless claims

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/stocks-open-mixed-apple-shares-drop-1B7957731

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