CUPERTINO, Calif. — Shares of Apple Inc. slumped Wednesday evening in after hours trading following the resignation of Steve Jobs, the co-founder and head of the technology sector heavyweight.
Following a brief trading halt, Apple shares fell more than six percent, and recently traded down 5.1 percent at $357.
“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know,” Jobs wrote in a letter to Apple’s board. “Unfortunately, that day has come.”
Jobs also urged the board to name Tim Cook as chief executive. Cook, who has served as chief operating officer and has taken the helm for Jobs during Jobs’ battle with cancer in recent years, assumes control immediately, Apple said.
The timing of the announcement, however, was a surprise and raised questions about the health of Jobs, who was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004 and underwent a liver transplant two years ago, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Jobs has not commented on his health since he said in a letter in January that he was taking another leave of absence to “focus on my health.” He made an appearance at the launch of the iPad 2 in March and Apple’s annual developers’ conference in June but appeared thin both times.
Before the trading halt, Apple shares were off 0.2 percent. They closed the day session up 0.7 percent, and have climbed roughly 57 percent over the past year.
US stocks rallied ahead of the late-trading session, with a larger-than-anticipated rise in durable-goods orders overriding worries about the global economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 144 points, or 1.3 percent, to 11,320.71. The S&P 500 Index rose 1.3 percent to 1,177.60, and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.9 percent.
Read more at MarketWatch