Stocks Edge Lower; Apple Extends Decline

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are edging lower on Wall Street as tensions rise in Washington over increasing the country's borrowing limit.

President Barack Obama has criticized congressional Republicans for linking talks over raising the debt ceiling to ongoing budget negotiations. Obama said the consequences of the U.S. government defaulting on its debt would be disastrous and shouldn't be used as a bargaining chip to extract concessions on spending cuts.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 14 points to 13,493 shortly before noon Eastern.

The Standard and Poor's 500 dropped two points to 1,468 and the Nasdaq composite index fell 13 points to 3,104.

Apple fell $18 to $484, its third daily drop. The stock hasn't closed below $500 in almost a year.