Drop in Tech Stocks Results in a Market Plunge

On Friday, global stock markets fell for the second day in a row, as a near $1 trillion weekly blowout in leading tech firms trumped prospects of a halt in Fed and ECB rate hikes and reports that the US financial system was not yet in crisis.

European markets were down over 1% after Amazon as well as Apple issued dismal projections on Thursday, sending the tech sector tumbling more than 2%, and the potential of additional Covid-19 limitations in China weighed on mining and energy firms.

Borrowing rates were also beginning to rise in the stock markets, despite what experts saw as a subdued ECB meeting on Thursday, which meant Germany’s 10-year bond rates were headed for their greatest weekly drop since October 1987.

The Yen was also dropping in foreign exchange markets following Bank of Japan president, Haruhiko Kuroda, indicating that the bank had no plans to increase interest rates or escape from ultra-low interest rates anytime in the near future, despite improving inflationary predictions.

Due to heavy losses in China, Asia-Pacific stocks ex-Japan closed 1.9% lower at 432 points, slightly over a two-and-a-half-year trough reached on Monday.

The MSCI World Index, which monitors 47 nations, was down 0.5% on the day, despite the fact that it, such as the European and US marketplaces, was on pace for its third weekly gain in the previous four.

In recent days, marketplaces have been hammered by dismal profit projections.

Amazon.com and Apple were the newest technological juggernauts to take a beating from stakeholders on Thursday, and roughly $1 trillion might be knocked off the four US technology firms this week alone.

Meta, Facebook’s holding company, is down 25%, taking its year-to-date decline to 70%, or even more than $670 billion in value, while Apple’s poor estimate for the normally prosperous festive season has already sent its shares down by more than 10% within a few hours.

If this trend continues, its market capitalization could fall below $1 trillion. Stocks were as high as $1.9 trillion throughout November 2021, which is a significant drop to say the least, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid.

The BOJ’s widely anticipated decision to maintain its policy loose came just after European Central Bank hiked lending rates by 75 basis points the day before. However, it noted that major advances were already made in combating inflation.

Investors are now focusing on the Federal Reserve conference next week. While a 75 basis point rate increase is very certain at the end of its November 1-2 policy meeting, the probability of a lesser, 50-point increase in December was 55%, as per CME’s FedWatch instrument.

Benzimra of Societe Generale does not think there would be any surprises here (in regards to rate hikes), but believes it’s going to be more about the statement that the Fed would give.

The ECB’s less aggressive remarks reinforced predictions that central banks would moderate the rate of tight monetary policy, particularly after the Bank of Canada stunned the marketplace with a smaller-than-expected rate hike on Wednesday.

According to Citi analysts, markets have begun to play a Fed tilt again, but this is characterized as increasing in smaller amounts rather than a proper pivot from rises to cuts, implying that a genuine halt remains some time away.

The Chinese stock market lost 2.25%, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index falling 3.6%, capping off a dismal week. Bleak industrial earnings numbers, as well as the spread of Covid-19, have all affected the sentiment.

The Dollar index rose 0.3% during the day but fell for the second time in a row. Furthermore, the Euro dropped below parity at $0.9944, whereas the Yen fell 0.8% to 147.43 per Dollar due to the BOJ’s position.

The Bottom Line

The economic market was already precariously balanced, and the collapse of major tech companies, such as Apple (who make up the majority of the NASDAQ index) and Amazon, does not bode well. It is important to see just how these companies recover before considering additional investments.