NEW YORK (AP) — A sell-off in know-how shares dragged the broader market decrease Monday as buyers offloaded among the greatest names within the sector.
Netflix fell 7 %, Fb fell 5 % and Google and Amazon.com every fell greater than 2 %.
Know-how shares have soared over the previous 12 months, pushing the Nasdaq composite index up 30 % over the previous 12 months, greater than twice as a lot because the Dow Jones industrial common. Netflix and Fb have doubled in worth in that point.
“The large excessive flyers have accomplished very nicely, and so I believe there was some revenue taking,” stated Randy Warren, chief funding officer of Warren Monetary Service.
The Nasdaq misplaced 50.4 factors, or 1.2 %, to shut at 4,226.39.
Different indexes additionally fell, however not by as a lot. The Commonplace & Poor’s 500 index fell 9.08 factors, or 0.5 %, to 1,857.44. The Dow Jones industrial common fell 26.08 factors, or 0.2 %, to 16,276.69.
Shares fell early Monday as merchants feared sanctions on Russia may push the world’s ninth-largest economic system into recession. Buyers additionally reacted to information that Russian forces had seized Ukrainian ships and army installations on the Crimean peninsula. Russia annexed the area final week.
Biotechnology shares, one other sector that has risen sharply up to now 12 months, continued the decline that started Friday after U.S. lawmakers questioned the pricing of a Hepatitis C drug from Gilead Sciences.
A well-liked fund that tracks biotech shares, the iShares Nasdaq Biotech ETF, fell 3 % on Monday. It’s up 53 % up to now twelve months.
“It is the richest a part of the market, so… you are going to be nervous,” stated Jerry Webman, chief economist at Oppenheimer Funds.
Among the many shares making massive strikes:
– Herbalife rose $3.32, or 6.7 %, to $52.86 after it agreed to again billionaire Carl Icahn’s three nominees to its board. Icahn is backing the embattled well being complement firm in its battle with one other superstar investor, William Ackman, who has accused the corporate of working a pyramid scheme.
— Apple has damaged the downward development in know-how shares. The corporate soared after The Wall Road Journal reported that Apple is in talks with large cable supplier Comcast to supply a streaming video service. Apple rose $6.32, or 1 %, to $539.19.
Bond costs rose. The rate of interest on ten-year authorities bonds fell to 2.73 %.
