Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages remain mixed at midday.

Apple (AAPL 278.11, -14.97, -5.11%) announced today that it is increasing prices on select products due to rising costs for memory and storage. The broader concern is that Apple just might be a trendsetter in raising prices. After all, if one of the largest consumer-oriented companies around is being forced to raise prices, it stands to reason that other smaller companies will likely follow suit. That could spell trouble for the Fed and its effort to deliver price stability, as these price increases are not tied to food and energy costs. Companies that incur the higher memory and storage costs without raising prices risk profit margin erosion and disappointing earnings results.

Apple is the biggest loser in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a heavyweight drag on the S&P 500 information technology sector (-0.5%).