Today technology stocks saw their worst overall day since 2011 as investors concerns continue to mount over rising interest rates. This caused the Dow to suffer through its worst day in over eight months itself.
Highly performing companies are often hit the hardest when fears rise over rapidly increasing interest rates and the SP Information Technology Index (INDEXSP:SP500-45) is comprised of some of the world’s most valuable technology stocks such as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB).
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The SP 500 ITI fell by 4.8 percent as a whole and much of that is attributable to the heavyweight stocks that fell today. Shares of Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple plummeted by -5.4%, -4.13%, and -4.63% respectively.
Amazon isn’t counted in the SP 500 IT index but it’s worth noting that the company’s stock dropped by over 6 percent, a loss of $68 billion in market cap.
All of these stocks have seen sharp gains on the year and yet investors have been quick to sell-off and take profits as they shift into more conservative securities like bonds and treasury notes. Both returning nearly decade-high rates, so it makes sense that they’ve become more attractive investment vehicles.
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While technology stocks sag, chip stocks fall even faster
October isn’t even halfway over and its been the worst month in recent memory for semiconductor stocks especially.
Ever since last week when investment firm Raymond James issued a rather pessimistic 2019 earnings estimate for the chip sector there has been quite a sell-off underway. Intel dipped 3.76 percent today but that might be viewed lightly when you look at team Red and team Green’s day on the market. Raymond James toured Asian suppliers and came away with the understanding (their opinion) that we are entering a down-cycle for semi’s as a whole.
AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) suffered an especially brutal day today with a drop of over 8 percent. This marks a slide of nearly 20 percent in the last three weeks for the Austin, TX-based chipmaker! Despite this AMD still remains up 150 percent on the year. Nvidia wasn’t spared either as the GPU-manufacturer out of Santa Clara, CA saw a drop of seven-and-a-half percent itself which brings its year-to-date market gain to 33 percent.
Global interest rates are near all-time lows, while the US is pushing interest rates higher given recent economic strength, among other things. As the base rate from the Fed increases, the value of existing bonds with low-interest drops, which means when bought they will yield higher given a lower base price (price you paid to acquire them). All this means that bonds, backed by the US government, have become more attractive and thus many investors are turning to them as a risk-free investment.
The worrying factor here for many is that many of these companies are posting amazing earnings results. Intel recently posted an all-time revenue record this past quarter. Nvidia and Amazon are no different with each company posting incredible gains quarter after quarter. Share prices have soared on the back of optimism fueled by successful earnings statements but the question is now if these winners can continue to drive gains here as we enter earnings season. Of course, keep your eyes on Wccftech.com/Topic/Finance for financial coverage of all your favorite technology companies here in the next month.
