What you need to know
- Apple's stock sunk over eight percent on Thursday.
- It was the worst-performing day since March.
- Speculation points to a profit grab by investors.
Apple just had its worst day on the stock market since March of this year. Reported by CNBC, shares of Apple stock closed down 8.01% on Thursday, its worst day since it dropped 6.35% on March 20th earlier this year.
Apple's drop is joined by its tech peers. Microsoft closed down 6.19% and Facebook dropped 3.76%. While Alphabet, Netflix and Amazon were each down above 4%. The S&P 500 tech closed down 5.8%, its biggest one-day decline since June 11 when it fell 6.3%.
According to a report by Marketwatch, tech stocks led the DOW to a drop of more than 800 points. Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, believes that the hit on tech stocks is due to a profit grab by investors.
"In the absence of a specific catalyst, it's easy to classify today's swoon as profit-taking ... noting that the "most-loved" parts of the market — the technology, consumer discretionary and communications services sectors — sold off the most.
Esty Dwek, head of global macro strategy for Natixis Investment Managers, was also not alarmed, saying that the industry was due for a correction after a surge in performance over the last few months.
"Tech stocks, and the overall market, hadn't really had a bad day since June, so this is a healthy breather. It was never just going to be a straight line up. But the long-term structural support for technology has not changed and support for equities has not either."
The stock has dipped slightly lower in after-hours trading to $120.04 per share as of 5:30 PM EST.
