U.S. Stock Markets Fall as Apple Price Hikes and Chip Costs Weigh on Tech Giants

U.S. stock markets declined throughout the week, with technology shares leading the downturn as competing market forces ultimately tipped negative. Apple announced price increases of 20 percent on MacBooks and iPads, attributing the hikes to rising chip costs — a development that rattled investor confidence in the so-called Magnificent Seven, a group of the seven largest and most influential technology companies on U.S. markets. The price increases and underlying cost pressures on semiconductors compounded broader concerns weighing on equities, contributing to sustained losses across the week.