Tech sell-off drives Nasdaq to the steepest decline since June 2020
Key takeaways:
- On Thursday, Cloud and e-commerce shares were among the biggest losers on disappointing profits reports and after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.
- Big Tech also got battered, led by a drop in Amazon and Facebook parent Meta shares.
- Investors were entirely down on e-commerce after Shopify, which ballooned during the outbreak, reported disappointing first-quarter profits and income.
Cloud firms, e-retailers, and household tech names got beaten on Thursday, wiping billions of dollars in market value and driving the Nasdaq Composite to its worst one-day decline since June 2020.
A day after the Federal Reserve increased its benchmark interest rate by a half-point to control growing inflation, investors sold out of the portion of the market that’s usually viewed as the growth driver on worries that the economy is in for some dark times ahead.
Big Tech suffered a considerable sell-off, with Amazon falling nearly 8% and Facebook owner Meta Platforms off almost 7%. Among other big names: Apple plunged nearly 6%, Google parent Alphabet dropped about 5%, and Microsoft shares skated 4%. Overall, the Nasdaq fell 5%.
After Shopify, investors were mainly down on e-commerce, which ballooned during the outbreak by helping physical retailers go digital and reported disappointing first-quarter profits and income. The stock fell 15%. eBay and Etsy also suffered double-digit declines following their profits reports.