Tech stocks were hammered today as equities markets overall suffered their worst day of trading since the global financial crisis — not surprisingly, thanks to heightened coronavirus fears and a plunging world oil price following a dispute between Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Key stock indices including the S&P 500 dropped 7% in the first four minutes of trading, resulting in a 15-minute circuit breaker halt of trade at 9:34 p.m.

Circuit breakers are designed to stop trading in the event of a severe market price decline. They have different levels and can ultimately result in markets being closed for a day when the S&P Index drops 20%.

Fortunately, markets didn’t drop 20% later in the day, but as of the close of trade the Dow was down 2,013 points, its single largest point drop in history.

Tech stocks were not spared from the massacre, as the top five tech companies lost a combined $321.6 billion in value. Shares in Apple Inc. dropped 7.9% in regular trading, to $266.17, a loss of about $100 billion. Microsoft Corp. fared slightly better, falling 6.8%, to $150.62. Facebook Inc. shares declined 6.4%, to $169.50, Alphabet Inc. 6.2%, to $1,215.79, and Amazon.com Inc. 5.3%, to $1,800.61.

One prominent tech company hit especially hard was Tesla Inc., which saw its share price drop 13.6%, to $608. Tesla had already warned of issues with production because of COVID-19, but the plunge in global oil prices has investors concerned that its vehicles and solar panels will be less appealing as fossil-fuel-powered alternatives become cheaper to run.

Cloud and software as a service companies were also hard-hit during the market plunge. The BVP Nasdaq Emerging Cloud Index, an index that tracks both sectors, fell 8.3% today, closing at 1,134.51, its lowest level since October. Notable companies on the list include Atlassian Corp. PLC, down 7.8%, to $133 at the close of regular trading, and Slack Inc. down 5.5%, to $24.89.

With the coronavirus spreading — Italy announcing today that it has placed the whole country into lockdown to stop the spread of the virus — and no end in sight with the Russia and Saudi oil dispute, markets are unlikely to return to normal in the near future.

There was a glimmer of hope in after-hours trading as major tech stocks showed slight recoveries. Apple was up 2.8%, Microsoft 3.2%, Facebook 2.2%, Alphabet 1.5% and Amazon 2.2%. Whether those price movements indicate bargain hunters or a move back into positive market conditions tomorrow will be apparent soon.

Photo: pxfuel