Tech stocks hit hardest in market slump

Technology was the hardest hit in Thursday’s broader sell-off on concerns about deteriorating relations between China and the U.S.

The revamped tech and

communication services group, which together account for more than 30 per cent of the S&P 500 by weighting, were the biggest laggards in the index for most of the trading session.

Chip stocks were among the weakest following a report that China used a tiny chip in a hack that infiltrated several top U.S. companies

and as negative sentiment from Wall Street continues to mount. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index tumbled as much as 2.6 per cent, double the decline of the S&P 500 and on track for its worst decline in almost a month.

“I think what you’re seeing is the spotlight back on the potential impact of the U.S.-China trade dispute,”

said Daniel Morgan at Synovus Trust Co. The rising 10-year treasury yield is also a factor as investors consider selling what they may perceive to be riskier investments, Morgan said.

Alphabet Inc. paced declines among the largest U.S. technology companies with a 2.8-per-cent retreat on the day in New York.

In remarks on Thursday at an event in Washington, Vice-President Mike Pence called on Google to halt development

of a search engine being designed for the Chinese market.

He also cast China as a Republican campaign foe.

Microsoft Corp., Facebook Inc., and Amazon. com Inc. all fell around three per cent.

Super Micro Computer Inc., the company whose servers were said to have hosted the chip used in the hack, saw its market value nearly cut in half.