Apple’s 2-Day Slide Nears $200 Billion on China iPhone Curbs
Apple Inc. shares tumbled Thursday, on track to wipe out $200 billion of market value in just two days, as China plans to expand a ban on the use of iPhones to government-backed agencies and state companies.
Shares of the Cupertino, California-based company fell as much as 5.1%, bringing its two-day slump to 6.8%. Apple is the biggest component in major US equity indexes, adding to a broader selloff sparked in part by a litany of woes in China.
The world's second-biggest economy has been slumping amid a protracted crisis in its real estate market, threatening demand for everything from commodities to consumer electronics. The iPhone maker counts China as its biggest foreign market and global production base.
Adding to Apple's troubles are rising US Treasury yields as bonds sell off on worries the Federal Reserve will have to step up its fight against inflation as the US economy remains resilient.
The news is having a widespread effect on the markets, with investors selling everything from chips, mega-cap technology to US-listed Chinese stocks.
“The Nasdaq is sinking as one bad Apple spoils a bunch of mega-cap tech stocks,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA. “Apple's growth story is heavily reliant on China and if the Beijing crackdown intensifies that could pose a big problem to the bunch of other mega-cap tech companies that rely on China.”
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 Index was trading lower by about 1%, meanwhile the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which consists of several Apple suppliers, was down 2.5% on Thursday.
Interesting Timing
Bank of America Corp. analyst Wamsi Mohan notes that the “timing of the potential ban is interesting” given the recent launch of Huawei Technologies Co. high-end 5G-capable
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