Apple shares hit $600-per-share mark

By Luciana Lopez
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Treasury yields hit five-month highs on Thursday as jobs and manufacturing data showed gathering momentum in the world's biggest economy, while Apple hit the $600-per-share mark for the first time.
U.S. stocks opened slightly higher but saw choppy trading soon after, with key indices going into negative territory.
Demand for safe-haven government debt weakened in the face of a recent spate of positive economic data as well as a modestly improved outlook from the U.S. Federal Reserve this week.
Data on Thursday added to views that the U.S. economy was reaching firmer footing, with jobless claims back at a four-year low last week and a modest pick-up in the pace of manufacturing in New York in March.
"This suggests that the recovery is firmly on track. This lowers the chances of QE3," a third round of quantitative easing from the Fed, said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"This should be good news for stocks and not so good for bonds. But if interest rates continue to head higher, the Fed might be forced to come in with QE3."
The U.S. 30-year Treasury bond extended its loss to a point on Thursday, and the yield on 10-year Treasury notes rose to its highest since late October.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down 4/32, with the yield at 2.2866 percent.
Shares of Apple Inc extended a rise to a seventh straight session to touch a record $600 shortly after the opening. Last week, Apple's Chief Executive Tim Cook introduced the highly anticipated third iteration of the iPad.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 15.13 points, or 0.11 percent, to 13,178.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.98 points, or 0.07 percent, to 1,393.30. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.20 points, or 0.04 percent, to 3,039.53.
The dollar edged down against the euro and the yen after a recent string of gains. The greenback lost 0.37 percent to 83.33 yen as the euro firmed 0.21 percent to $1.3057.
(Additional reporting by Richard Leong; editing by Andrea Evans)