Amid COVID-19 pandemic, the US technology stocks struggle over

On Friday, the US stocks tumbled on closing out a losing week and continuing a rough start to 2022

January 23, 2022

US technology stocks lowers in the new year

US technology stocks have been nursing a new year hangover, pushing the Nasdaq into correction territory, The Guardian reported.

On Friday, the U.S. stocks tumbled on closing out a losing week and continuing a rough start to 2022. The Nasdaq Composite was hit the hardest with Friday’s selling sending the tech-heavy index to its worst week since 2020.

Momentum is building against companies with exciting promises to reshape the world, as investors turn to “value” alternatives such as oil and banking, the report said.

The tech sector now faces a crunch fortnight as its biggest names report results, including Microsoft on Tuesday, Tesla on Wednesday, and Apple on Thursday. They must prove they can thrive in a post-lockdown world where the cost-of-living squeeze is leaving people with less money for tech products and services, the report said.

Matt Weller, global head of research at Forex.com and City Index said, “The outlook for the Nasdaq 100 will be much clearer in two weeks.”

Soft earnings reports or weak guidance could see the index make one of its worst starts in over a decade.

Although a hesitant return to normal life has now been jolted by the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, smaller growth stocks such as the pandemic winners Peloton and Zoom have been under pressure for months. A near-record number of tech stocks have recently plunged at least 50 percent from their all-time highs, the report added.

The technology giants’ shares have had an incredible run, helping the S&P 500’s IT index to deliver blockbuster returns of 33% in 2021. But the sector lost about 10% in January.

Anxiety over US interest rate rises hurts the unprofitable tech firms promising big earnings in the future.

The Federal Reserve, which meets this week, is likely to raise rates several times this year to tame US inflation, now at its highest since 1982, the report said.

[With Inputs from IANS]

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