Apple’s stock slid down nearly US$5.50 to close at $251.80 on Tuesday as consumer and analyst concerns over potential issues with the iPhone 4’s antennas were on the rise. The dip followed a statement from Consumer Reports saying the independent product review organization couldn’t recommend the new iPhone model because of antenna-related signal loss issues.

“When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal,” Consumer Reports said. “Due to this problem, we can’t recommend the iPhone 4.”

Despite the group’s statement that it can’t recommend the iPhone 4, it still gave the combination iPod and smartphone high ratings overall.

Apple’s multi-point stock decline came as the overall market was on the rise. The Dow climbed 1.44 percent for the day, and Nasdaq inched up 1.99 percent.

Apple publicly addressed iPhone 4 antenna concerns in early July by stating “Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength.”

The company promised a software fix will be available in the coming weeks. That software update, however, may not be enough to appease customers and investors. Apple has already been hit with lawsuits alleging it misled customers and knowingly shipped a defective product.

Despite the ongoing investor and customer concerns, Apple started rebounding after the market closed. By 8PM eastern time, the company’s stock had climbed up 1 percent, or $2.51, to $254.31.