“U.S. stocks fell sharply, after heavy selling in momentum stocks such as biotechs and Internet companies on Friday reversed an early rally, sending the Nasdaq Composite to its worst day in two months,” Anora Mahmudova reports for MarketWatch.
“The Nasdaq Composite fell 110.01 points, or 2.6%, to 4,127.73. Friday’s losses resulted in a second weekly loss in a row. Biotechnology and Internet stocks were the worst hit. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF, a benchmark for that sector, fell 4%,” Mahmudova reports. “Shares in Apple Inc., Nasdaq’s heaviest weighted component, were down 1.3%. Facebook Inc., considered a momentum play, tumbled 4.6%. The stock is now in bear market, having fallen more than 20% from its all-time closing high set on March 10.”
“‘We are seeing a key reversal, significant retrenchment in risk in equity markets. For days we saw equities going higher while gold and oil drifted lower and now this trend has reversed,’ said Colin Cieszynski, senior market analyst at CMC markets,” Mahmudova reports. “Among individual stocks, shares in so-called momentum high-growth stocks dropped sharply, sending some of them into bear territory. Telsa Motors, Inc. fell 5.9%, Pandora Media, Inc. fell 4.9%, Amazon.com, Inc. fell 3.2%.”
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