The six leading tech companies in the United States lost more than $500 billion in value on Tuesday, after an unexpectedly high August inflation data that sent tech markets plummeting. Despite falling gas costs, the consumer price index rose 0.1% for the month and 8.3% year on year.
The Invesco QQQ ETF, which tracks the 100 most highly valued nonfinancial businesses listed on Nasdaq, fell 5.5% in its worst trading day since March 2020. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, and Nvidia are among the top ten holdings of the portfolio.
The Nasdaq Composite fell 5.16% to 11,633.5 at the close of the day, the steepest drop since June 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1,276.37 points, or 3.94%, to 31,104.97, while the S&P 500 fell 4.32% to 3,932.69.
Here are some of the companies that suffered the most severe losses:
Apple dropped $154.11 billion in market capitalization and plunged 5.87%, its biggest decrease since September 2020.
- Microsoft : It lost $109.33 billion and plummeted 5.5%, the most since September 2020.
- Alphabet : (which owns Google) lost $85.32 billion and dropped 5.9%, the most since March 2020.
- Amazon : It lost $98.11 billion and plummeted 7.06%, the most since May 2022.
- Meta : (previously Facebook) lost $42.55 billion and dropped 9.37%, the most since February 2022.
- Nvidia : It lost $34.21 billion and fell 9.47%, the most since March 2020. The August inflation report is one of the last the Fed will examine before its September meeting.
The August inflation report is one of the last the Fed will review before its September 20-21 meeting, at which the central bank is likely to issue its third consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest rate hike to combat inflation. The news may lead the Fed to continue its aggressive rate hikes for a longer period of time than some investors anticipated.
