US stock markets continued to fall on Tuesday as tech giants faced big losses and fears surrounding the US-China trade war continue.
Monday saw some of the world’s most valuable companies sustain large losses, with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) closing -4%, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) closing -5% and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) -5.7%.
Investors are fearing a tech slowdown after this year has seen the FAANG companies’ (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL)) market value fall 20% from their year’s high.
Peter Cecchini, who is the managing director at Cantor Fitzgerald, said: “I’ve been looking for them to show some leadership which they fail to do, and until we get the tech leadership I think equities are going to continue to struggle.”
Goldman Sachs has recently cut the price target for Apple shares from $209 to $182.
Connor Campbell at Spreadex said: “Investors are concerned that sooner rather than later the tech sector is going to be fully embroiled in the US-China trade battle, exacerbating the softness caused by reports of a slowdown in iPhone demand.”
Tuesday saw the FTSE 100 markets fall below 7,000 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average markets fell by 500 points and the S&P 500 also fell.
Tuesday also saw a fall in oil prices, with Brent crude falling to the lowest level since March to $63.77.
Shares in car manufacturers also fell after the arrest of Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn. US-traded shares of Nissan plunged 5.8%, while Renault shares dropped 8.4% in Paris.
Anna Nicholls, who is an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said on his arrest: “The ousting of Carlos Ghosn is not only shocking in itself, but it also brings to a head a question that has long hung over the alliance – how it will survive his departure.”
“The strong bond between the French and Japanese carmakers depends partly on cross-shareholdings but even more on Ghosn’s huge personal influence,” she added.
