Tech turmoil dumps Tencent out of US$500 billion club
Chinese internet giant, Samsung and Taiwanese chip maker TSMC lose combined US$35 billion in market value
Tencent Holdings was pushed out of the half-a-trillion-dollar club after just 10 days, as declines in tech stocks spread from the United States to Asia on Thursday.
The Chinese internet giant had US$16.5 billion wiped off its value after its shares fell by 3.3 per cent to HK$398 (US$51) at close of trade in Hong Kong.
The company became Asia’s first company to exceed half a trillion US dollars in capitalisation on November 20. On Thursday its market cap stood at US$484 billion.
It also contributed 118 points – or 26 per cent – towards the losses on the Hang Seng Index, which dropped 446.48 points, or 1.5 per cent, to finish at 29,177.35 on Thursday. Shares worth HK$22.4 billion changed hands, the most for a single stock on the Hong Kong market.
Other tech giants in the region, such as Samsung Electronics, Taiwan’s chip maker TSMC and Japan’s Tokyo Electron, all had steep falls.
Samsung fell 3.4 per cent to 2.54 million won (US$2,336), its lowest level since September 15. It lost US$10.68 billion in value. TSMC, or the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, slid 3.6 per cent to end at NT$226 (US$7.5), erasing US$7.34 billion in market cap.