Tech Down After Weak Jobs Report Extends Flight From Risk -- Tech Roundup

Shares of technology companies fell after a weak jobs report further spurred the recent flight from risky sectors.

The SPDR Select Sector Technology exchange-traded fund, which tracks the tech industry group of the Standard & Poor's 500, is now down about 5% for the year to date.

The Nasdaq Composite has seen its worst start to a year since 2016. Shares of videogame store GameStop initially surged by more than 15% after The Wall Street Journal reported it was releasing its own nonfungible token platform and exploring other cryptocurrency opportunities. Gains faded as the trading session wore on, as the 2021 "meme stocks" fell from grace in early 2022.

The price of leading cryptocurrency bitcoin continued a recent slide, testing the psychologically significant $40,000 level and bringing losses for the year-to-date to around 13%.

Semiconductor giant Samsung Electronics estimated its fourth-quarter operating profit rose roughly 52% from the year-ago period, lifted by resilient demand for memory chips and improved returns from its contract chip-making business.

 Write to Rob Curran at [e-mail] 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-07-22 1723ET