Apple stock market investors look for signs worst is over after $300bn slump

The slide has erased more than $300bn (€279bn) in stock market value this year, ceding Apple’s status as the most valuable US company to Microsoft

Some analysts believe that the shares will stop falling.

With Apple's shares coming off their poorest quarterly performance relative to the main US stock market index — the S&P 500 Index — in over a decade, traders are looking for signs that the worst may be over.

The 12% drop since the start of the year paid off for short sellers, giving them an incentive to unwind their bets. Technical analysts say the stock is flirting with levels where dip-buyers are likely to swoop in. And the lagging run may make Apple look cheap compared with the other big tech companies.