Tencent rout stokes broader contagion fears; $175bn wiped out this year – The Wall Street Journal
JOHANNESBURG — Naspers shareholders must be breathing deeply as the Tencent slide gathers momentum, already showing $175 billion has been lost in market value this year. CEO Bob van Dijk sold 2 percent of its 33 percent stake in the Chinese tech giant earlier this year to an air of distrust. Some may now be recanting those words, wondering why he didn't sell it all. Analysts fear that the Tencent sell off may stoke fears of a broader sell off given the slide in stocks like Alibaba, Baidu, Facebook and Netflix but it one looks at the run on stocks like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft recently, the trends seem to be on divergent paths. The selection of tech stocks will ultimately decide the winners and losers of this tech trade battle, with many analysts red-faced after Tencent disappointed with its first quarterly profit drop in more than a decade. – Stuart Lowman
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