Apple caduceus and customers, wearing facemasks to protect against the COVID-19 coronavirus, are seen on the shop premises in Beijing on February 22, 2020.
Nicolas Asfouri | AFP | Getty Images
Midst the worst day for U.S. stocks since the 2008 financial crisis, the five most valuable tech companies lost $321.6 billion in value, with Apple accounting for wellnigh one-third of that sum.
Shares of the iPhone maker plunged 7.9%. Microsoft, Facebook and Alphabet each lost varied than 6% and Amazon fell 5.3%. They had been among the biggest contributors to the market’s extended organize that lifted the S&P 500 to a record just last month, and now their declines are having an outsized impact on the fuller index.
Monday’s market plunge, which sent the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average to historic losses, was activated by the ongoing spread of the coronavirus and tumbling oil prices. Saudi Arabia on Saturday cut official crude selling prices for April after OPEC talks foundered a day earlier.
Only nine members of the S&P 500 ended the day in the green, and none were from the tech sector. On a proportion basis, the steepest drop among tech companies was IT services company DXC, which sank 18%, followed by Western Digital’s 13% cease. Tesla, which isn’t in the index, plummeted 14%.
For Big Tech, investors are concerned about a drop in economic activity and business dish out if the coronavirus can’t be contained. Companies have been canceling large events, restricting travel and encouraging employees to fashion from home. Last week, Amazon said an employee in one of its Seattle offices tested positive for COVID-19. On Friday, Microsoft mentioned two of its employees had also been diagnosed with coronavirus.
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