The tech world has been hit with a shockwave. On October 25th, after the release of several earnings reports, the value of the foremost tech giants—often referred to as the “magnificent seven”—took a staggering plunge of over $280 billion. These elite seven comprise the titans of the tech realm: Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, Nvidia, and Tesla. Notably, these giants account for about 25% of the S&P 500 index’s overall value.
The decline wasn’t uniform. Alphabet, Google’s umbrella company, bore the brunt, witnessing a 9% dip in its stock price. This reduction slashed a whopping $180 billion off its market cap, marking its steepest decline since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Amazon, Nvidia, and Meta weren’t spared either, recording drops of 5.5%, 4.3%, and 4.2% in their respective stock prices.
On the brighter side, Apple and Tesla had relatively modest decreases, with their stocks sliding by 1.35% and 1.9%. In a surprising turn of events, Microsoft emerged as the outlier, seeing a 3.1% uptick, likely buoyed by its Azure business which posted growth figures surpassing expectations.
Financial analysis firm, The Kobeissi Letter, has dubbed this as one of the most comprehensive tech stock sell-offs in recent times. This sentiment is further echoed by the S&P 500 index hitting a five-month low. The prevailing concern? We might be on the cusp of a tech recession.
This anxiety isn’t just felt in financial circles. The average netizen is feeling the heat too. As pointed out by Andrew Lokenauth of TheFinanceNewsletter.com, Google searches for “stock market crash” surged by 233% within the past week.
In stark contrast to this tech debacle, the cryptocurrency sphere seems to be basking in a glow of positivity. With the potential approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US on the horizon, the crypto market cap swelled by a hefty 16.3%, amounting to 1.3 trillion dollars in the past week alone, as per data from CoinGecko.
But one shouldn’t get overly optimistic about cryptocurrencies either. They’ve shown their susceptibility to broader economic influences. Case in point: the first half of 2022 witnessed the US’s real GDP retract, leading to a 61.7% reduction in the cryptocurrency market cap.
This brings us to the million-dollar question: Will Bitcoin eventually become independent of tech stock performances and the broader S&P 500 dynamics? Though many see Bitcoin as a tech stock due to its erratic nature, it also possesses the potential to act as a countermeasure against the US dollar, given their inverse relationship.
There’s a growing narrative, especially against the backdrop of tumbling banking stocks, that investors might be considering a “flight to safety” with Bitcoin as their destination.
So, as the storm clouds gather over the tech industry, with apprehensions of a recession taking center stage, the crypto market appears to be finding its silver lining, largely buoyed by prospective regulatory nods. Undoubtedly, investors across the spectrum have their eyes peeled, poised to seize opportunities that arise in both arenas.
