Stocktake: Tech stock woes continue

Stocks tumbled last week as inflation fears gripped markets. Inflation aside, some profit-taking was clearly overdue.

Prior to the sell-off, the number of S&P 500 stocks hitting 52-week highs was at record levels, notes Bespoke Investment. Similarly elevated breadth readings were evident in all sectors, with one exception – technology, which has been weak for some time.

Even prior to the sell-off, an index of non-profitable tech stocks tracked by Goldman Sachs had lost 30 per cent of its value since February. The most profitable company, Apple, has been underperforming for some time, last week slipping below its 200-day moving average for the first time in more than a year.

Index investors could see last week’s weakness as a standard bout of profit-taking in an ongoing bull market, but technology stocks don’t have that excuse. Many of last week’s biggest losers have been weak for months, suggesting investors are in no hurry to rotate back into tech stocks any time soon.