Technology stocks took a beating last week as investors took profits and sought safety from the turmoil in global markets. What we’d all like to know now is whether the sell-off has made technology exchange traded funds (ETFs) a bargain.
The Nasdaq – one of the best-performing indexes year-to-date – got clobbered last week, sinking 10.5%. Among the poorest tech performers were Hewlett Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK), reports David Benoit of Dow Jones Newswires.
According to analysts, this was simply a correction to a sector that saw a great deal of price appreciation. Toan Tran of Morningstar says, “Tech valuations are pretty high.”
Memories of 2008 mixed with questions of global technology demand may have led investors to seek less volatile investments. According to Tran, how far the tech sector falls will be tied to macroeconomic developments, particularly in the European Union and China. [Tech ETFs Riding on Robust Earnings.]
Still, Oppenheimer analyst Yair Reiner says the strengths that have allowed the tech sector to outperform other markets still remain. “Don’t forget, technology companies in general have probably the best balance sheets out there, and probably have the highest growth still,” Lazard Capital analyst Daniel Amir said. “People will be swarming back into tech once we get a little past the correction.”
Whatever troubles tech experienced last week, they appear to have been a blip on the radar. Use a trend-following strategy to spot opportunities in this sector. [How to Follow Trends.]
For more stories about technology, visit our technology category.
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Sumin Kim contributed to this article.