Retail shares join in tech sell-off
A sell-off in retail shares ahead of the start of the US holidays added to Wall Street’s woes as technology shares, including Apple, continued their global slide.
“Yet another day of hard selling has taken hold throughout Europe and the US,” said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony, adding that all the major technology indices have now dropped into the red this year.
“Tech has been a major focus for short sellers of late, with high valuations ensuring that they become a target given their apparently bloated share-prices.”
Mr Mahony said that “fears over a peak in iPhone sales” had contributed to the tech sell-off.
Apple shares fell further to stand at their lowest level since early May. They are sharply down on their record high of October 3.
Goldman Sachs trimmed its price target on Apple for the second time in just over a week, saying the balance of price and features in the new iPhone XR may not have been well received by users outside of the US.
A slump in the price of oil to its lowest level this year also undermined oil company shares.
Brent oil dropped $3.45 to $63.34 a barrel in London.
On Brexit, Bank of England governor Mark Carney told a parliamentary committee he believed Britain wouldn’t drop out of the EU in March without a deal.
That helped sterling rise against the euro, to 88.87p.
“The DUP is an additional concern for the pound, with tensions growing on a daily basis between Theresa May and the party upon whom she relies to hold up her government,” said Fiona Cincotta, a senior market analyst at City Index.
“The growing tensions don’t bode well for the Brexit vote in parliament.”
Additional reporting Reuters
