MARKET REPORT: Rout wipes £260 billion off trio of US tech titans By John Abiona Updated: 22:00, 17 July 2024 e-mail View comments More than £260billion was wiped off the value of the three biggest companies in the world amid fears that US relations with China and Taiwan could turn sour. Shares in Apple dropped more than 2 per cent while Microsoft fell 1 per cent and Nvidia was down more than 6 per cent – hitting investors in Britain whose savings and pensions are exposed to the US tech titans. On Wall Street the Nasdaq fell 2.
8 per cent and the S&P 500 was down 1.4 per cent. The losses came amid reports US President Joe Biden is seeking to curb sales of chip-making technology to China.
Tech rout: Shares in Apple dropped more than 2% while Microsoft fell 1% and Nvidia was down more than 6% And Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has signalled that should he win November’s election he could water down America’s commitment to Taiwan as he wants it to pay the US to protect it against China. US-listed shares of Dutch chipmaking equipment provider ASML fell more than 10pc while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest contract chip maker, slumped 6.4 per cent.
Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: ‘The prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House presents the risk he might come down even harder to stop China from getting its hands on foreign technology.’ Back in Britain, the FTSE 100 rose 0.28 per cent, or 22.
56 poin.
