11/04/2022
Big Tech Slump After Powell Flags Higher Peak Rate
Tech Firms Cut Thousands Of Jobs As Labor Market Braces For Economic Downturn
Bloomberg News, Amazon.com Inc. led big technology and internet stocks lower after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dashed hopes that relief from the central bank’s monetary tightening campaign was on the horizon.
The e-commerce giant sank 4.8% on Wednesday, while Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc., and Meta Platforms Inc. all fell more than 3%, as did the Nasdaq 100 index.
Despite strong jobs data earlier in the week, employers in October announced the most job cuts in a single month since February 2021 as a growing number of executives anticipate an economic downturn, and heading into the fourth quarter, economists fear more cuts are likely on the way.
Technology firms led the reductions last month, announcing nearly 10,000 cuts for a total of about 28,000 this year, up 162% from the same period last year, according to Challenger.
The data comes the same day payments firm Stripe, the buzzy fintech once valued at close to $100 billion, told employees of plans to cut 14% of its workforce, representing about 1,000 jobs.