A brief but sudden and sharp dip in Apple stock price on Thursday may have been connected to a rumor CEO Steve Jobs was in hospital, accounts say. While at one point sitting close to $360, shares started sliding at 1PM Eastern, then fell off the edge at 1:39, going from $355 to $349 in a matter of just four minutes.
The impact was enough to knock $10 billion off Apple’s market capitalization. The company’s market cap has since recovered along with the stock price, the latter of which now once again sits close to $355. Bullish Cross writer Andy Zaky observes that that the dip was especially odd, as at one stage Apple went from $351.70 to $349 in only a few seconds. “There’s something else.
The selling was not normal. That’s for sure. It wasn’t orderly. Take a look for yourself,” he says. Jobs’ health is believed to be stable, in spite of his being on an indefinite medical leave. He was spotted at the Apple campus last week in good shape, and on Wednesday was noticed eating at an Indian restaurant in Mountain View. Erroneous accounts of Jobs’ condition have triggered investor sell-offs in the past, such as when Bloomberg accidentally published a template obituary.
