Stock market today: Nasdaq heads for lowest close in 6 months, FAANG falls

Traders
work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after
the opening bell in New York
Thomson
Reuters

Stocks fell Monday, dragged lower
by mega-cap technology companies, as Wall Street worried about
global growth and trade tensions amid a quiet week for economic
data.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index plummeted more than
2.5%. It’s currently on pace for it’s lowest close since the
beginning of May, having fallen almost 13% since reaching a
record on Aug. 29.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 fell
1.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 1.3%, or more than
300 points.

Apple dropped more than 3%
after

the Wall Street
Journal

reported the
company slashed production orders in recent weeks for all three
of its new iPhones unveiled in September.

iPhone suppliers, including
Lumentum Holdings Inc. (-5.6%) and Universal Display Corp
(-2.6%), were also hit amid worries about faltering demand.
Shares of the world’s biggest technology company are down more
than 10% this month.

Other FAANG stocks took a
beating, with Amazon down more than 3.5% and Netflix about 4.5%
lower. Facebook shed 4.6%, and Google-parent company Alphabet
fell 2.5%. 

Semiconductor companies extended
sharp declines from last week when Nvidia (-8%) posted revenue
and guidance that missed analyst expectations. Advanced Micro
Devices (-4.7%), Cypress (3%) and NXP Semiconductors (1.5%) were
among losers in the sector.

Trade tensions continued to weigh
on global markets after the US and China clashed at a summit in
Papua New Guinea over the weekend,


blocking a declaration

at the annual Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation for the first time in nearly three decades. President
Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to meet
at a G20 gathering in Argentina on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

“Comments on US-China trade
tensions are likely to remain in focus this week ahead of the G20
Summit at the end of the month,” Vince Heaney, a strategist at
UBS, said in an email.