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Tech Loses Half a Trillion in Market Cap in a Month to Forget

Tech Loses Half a Trillion in Market Cap in a Month to Forget

(Bloomberg) -- The S&P 500’s worst week since Christmas makes a grim finale to a May that put a four-month market rally to a halt.

Some $1.7 trillion was yanked from the S&P 500 this month as 10 out of 11 industry groups retreated. It was particularly bad for tech, the index’s biggest sector, which plunged 8.9% in the worst month since 2008. That translated into a $515 billion drop in market capitalization. Energy stocks, whose market cap is a fraction of tech’s, fell 11.7%, which amounted to a $152 market cap decline.

Between a trade war that now spread out to Mexico, a breakdown in U.S.-China negotiations and a rising concern about growth, that’s of little surprise. The only sector that survived the selloff unscathed was real estate, which gained 0.9% for the month.

Tech Loses Half a Trillion in Market Cap in a Month to Forget

Stocks in the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index lost 16.7% for the month, shedding about $228 billion in market cap.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elena Popina in New York at epopina@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brad Olesen at bolesen3@bloomberg.net, Scott Schnipper

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