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Bloomberg
US stocks fell, pushed lower by megacap tech shares as they extended losses following a sharp selloff Tuesday afternoon. The dollar rose while Treasuries rallied as data showed American economic growth beat estimates.
Volatility spiked as the Nasdaq 100 Index retreated, with Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. among the biggest losers. The gauge is heading for its fifth straight day with a swing of more than 1 percent, and is poised for its worst month in two years. The S&P 500 Index slipped, hovering less than 1 percent above its average price for the past 200 days—a level that’s set a line in the sand in the selloffs last week and in early February.
“The return of volatility is something a big number of people in the business have never experienced, but where we are now is the new old normal,†said Don Townswick, the director of equities at Hartford, Connecticut-based Conning, which manages $121 billion.
Treasuries rose, with the 10-year yield briefly dipping below 2.75 percent for the first time since early February, though the buying didn’t bear the hallmarks of haven pursuit. Gold retreated with the yen. Crude slumped below $65 a barrel. European equities fluctuated after Asian stocks posted broad declines.
Technology shares have suffered the most from investor jitters this month after leading much of the bull-market charge in global equities during the past few years. Pressure is growing on the stocks amid speculation about a regulatory crackdown related to data privacy and anti-trust concerns, US threats to forbid Chinese investments in the sector and a move by traders to lock in their gains after the Nasdaq 100 soared more than 60 percent in the two years through mid-March.
“The fate of equity markets right now, also the fate of the bull market right now, is heavily connected with tech,†Max Kettner, a Commerzbank AG cross-asset strategist, told Bloomberg TV.
The big four euro-area economies are due to release March CPI readings this week. The Treasury will probably auction about $294 billion of bills and notes this week, its largest slate of supply ever.
The S&P 500 Index fell 0.7 percent in New York. The Nasdaq 100 fell 1.7 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.2 percent. The MSCI Emerging Market Index decreased 2 percent to the lowest in six weeks.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3 percent. The euro dipped 0.5 percent to $1.2344. The British pound declined 0.4 percent to $1.4096. The Japanese yen declined 0.9 percent to 106.25 per dollar.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped one basis point to 2.76 percent, the lowest in more than seven weeks. Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 1.37 percent. Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 0.50 percent.
West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.8 percent to $64.72 a barrel. Gold fell 1.1 percent to $1,330.73 an ounce, the biggest drop in more than four weeks. Copper fell 0.3 percent to $2.993 a pound.