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Apple’s stock sinks after report Japanese antitrust regulators are considering action

Shares of Apple Inc. took a nosedive in afternoon trade Friday, after a report that Japanese regulators are considering taking antitrust action against the technology giant. The stock was trading little changed at a round 1:30 p.m. ET, then tumbled to a 2.3% loss over the next half hour before bouncing slightly. Japan’s antitrust regulators are considering charging Apple for possible violations that may have helped it dominate smartphone sales in the country, Reuters reported, citing senior government sources. Japan isn’t the only country going after Apple. Last last month, European Union ordered Ireland to recover about $14.5 billion in taxers from Apple as it ruled that Apple’s tax arrangement with Ireland breached state-aid rules. Apple’s stock has gained 7.2% year to date, while the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF has run up 11% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has advanced 5%.

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Up Tick in Mortgage Refis Offsets Purchase Drop

Though there was a slight dip in new purchase financing activity over the past week, an increase in refinance business was enough to more than offset the decline.

The U.S. Mortgage Market Index from OpenClose and Mortgage Daily, an indication of future mortgages originations, was 168 in for the week ended Sept. 23.

Compared to the previous week, the index — which is based on average per-user rate locks submitted by clients of OpenClose — increased by more than 1 percent.

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Gold futures fall for the session, but gain for the week

Gold futures settled lower on Friday, but held onto a gain of more than 2% for the week. Traders assessed this week’s policy decisions from the Bank of Japan and U.S. Federal Reserve and their potential impact on demand for the yellow metal. December gold lost $3, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,341.70 an ounce. For the week, prices rose 2.4%, according to FactSet data.

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Oil continues decline after data show weekly U.S. oil-rig count up by 2

Oil futures continued to decline Friday after data from Baker Hughes revealed that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil climbed by 2 to 418 rigs this week. They have now posted increases in 12 out of the last 13 weeks. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes oil and natural-gas rigs, climbed by 5 to 511, Baker Hughes said. Nov. crude was at $44.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down $1.79, or 3.9%, from Thursday’s settlement. It traded around $44.56 before the rig data.

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Biggest Mortgage Lenders, Servicers

As quarterly mortgage lending activity made a big leap, two large financial institutions traded spots on the list of the country’s largest originators.

Data collected by Mortgage Daily indicate that there were an estimated $488 billion in residential loan originations during the second quarter.

Home-lending activity accelerated from the previous three-month period, when national mortgage production came to an estimated $354 billion.

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Fed proposes to restrict bank involvement with physical commodities

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve on Friday moved forward on a plan to make it more difficult for banks to be involved in physical commodities, citing the legal, reputational and financial risks from disasters such as the BP oil spill. Under the proposal, firms would have to hold more capital, not be able to engage in activities involving power plants and not be allowed to own or store copper. Two banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley , have relied on a grandfather clause to engage in physical commodity business that hasn’t been authorized for other Fed-regulated banks, while 12 banks, including Bank of America , Citi and J.P. Morgan Chase are involved in physical commodity trading, energy management and energy tolling activities to some degree.

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Apptio shares surge 44% in trading debut

Shares of cloud company Apptio Inc. surged 44% Friday in their trading debut, jumping to more than $23 from their issue price of $16. The company sold 6 million shares late Thursday to raise $96 million. The company is now enjoying a market capitalization of 2.6 billion. The stock is trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol ‘APTI’.

Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.

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From:: Stock Market News