Nasdaq plummets from record high with tech selloff

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The Nasdaq closed lower Monday in the US, plummeting more than 200 points in a major selloff in tech stocks, despite reaching a record high earlier.

The tech-heavy index lost 202 points, or 1.26%, to end the day at 15,854. It hit an all-time high of 16,212.23 points shortly after the opening bell.

The S&P 500 fell 15, or 0.32%, to close at 4,682 points despite climbing to a record of 4,743.83.

The Dow Jones, on the other hand, gained 17, or 0.05%, to finish at 35,619.

Among tech stocks, Zoom Video, Uber and BlackBerry lost more than 3% apiece, while Netflix, Amazon and Twitter fell over 2% each.

Coinbase saw shares dive 5.2% as the cryptocurrency market capitalization shed 5.5% compared to its previous day.

The price of Bitcoin retested the critical level of $55,600 shortly after the final bell, which was last seen Friday.

Amid the tech selloff and high uncertainty, the VIX volatility index, known as the fear index, jumped 7.2% to 19.20.

The dollar index, on the other hand, gained 0.5% to 96.52, while the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes climbed above the threshold of 1.6% -- adding 5.8% to 1.625%.

The price of Brent crude was up 0.57% at $79.34 a barrel and the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.55% to $76.36.

Precious metals extended losses with gold losing 2.2% to $1,8a05 an ounce and silver falling 1.9% to $24.16.