Apple shares gain for a ninth straight session on Thursday, company abandons plans to build data center in Ireland

According to a statement by Apple Inc on Thursday, the tech giant has moved away from plans to establish a data center in Ireland valued at EUR 850 million, as delayed approval of the project for over three years has led to a deadlock.

Apple shares closed higher for a ninth consecutive trading session on Thursday. The stock went up 1.43% ($2.68) to $190.04, after touching an intraday high at $190.29 and also a fresh all-time high.

In the week ended on May 6th the shares of the technological company added 13.25% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the first gain out of three weeks. It has also been the best performance since the week ended on October 16th 2011.

The stock has extended its advance to 14.99% so far during the current month, following a 1.50% slump in April. The latter has been a second straight month of losses.

For the entire past year, the shares of the NASDAQ-listed tech company rose 46.11%, following another 10.03% surge in 2016.

It was in February 2015, when Apple first revealed plans to establish the data center in the western town of Athenry so that it could utilize green energy sources in the vicinity.

However, the project approval was postponed by a series of planning appeals, primarily from two individuals.

Reuters reminded that in October last year the appeals had been rejected by the Irish High Court, while appellants then turned to the country’s Supreme Court.

“Despite our best efforts, delays in the approval process have forced us to make other plans and we will not be able to move forward with the data centre”, Apple Inc said in a statement, cited by the same media.

“While disappointing, this setback will not dampen our enthusiasm for future projects in Ireland as our business continues to grow”, the tech company said.

According to CNN Money, the 34 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Apple Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $196.50, with a high estimate of $235.00 and a low estimate of $152.00. The median estimate is a 3.40% surge compared to the closing price of $190.04 on May 10th.

The same media also reported that 21 out of 40 surveyed investment analysts had rated Apple Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 15 – as “Hold”.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Apple stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $190.28
R2 – $190.51
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $190.75
R4 (Long Breakout) – $191.45
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $192.28
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $192.64

S1 – $189.80
S2 – $189.57
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $189.33
S4 (Short Breakout) – $188.63
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $187.80
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $187.44

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Apple Inc (AAPL) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $176.64
R1 – $191.44
R2 – $199.05
R3 – $213.85
R4 – $228.65

S1 – $169.03
S2 – $154.23
S3 – $146.62
S4 – $139.01