Wall Street opens in red dragged by tech and energy shares

• Apple shares suffer heavy losses on coronavirus warning. 
• Falling crude oil prices weigh on the Energy Index.

Major equity indexes in the US started the day in the negative territory to follow their Asian and European counterparts on Tuesday. Resurfacing worries over the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak on US corporations and the global economy seems to be hurting the market sentiment.

As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both erasing 0.2%. Reflecting the flight-to-safety, the CBOE Volatility Index is up nearly 10%.

Apple shares fall sharply to weigh on tech shares

Tech giant Apple warned that the company could miss its sales and profit targets for the first quarter citing production disruptions and store closures in China. With Apple shares losing more than 2% following the opening bell, the S&P 500 Technology Index is down 0.75% as the worst-performing major sector. In the meantime, the Energy Index is down 0.7% amid falling crude oil prices.

On the other hand, the defensive Utilities and Real Estate indexes are posting small gains.