Tech stocks show why they're the new safe haven

As global stockmarkets tumbled this week, high-flying tech stocks such as Apple and Amazon gained again.

Apple Employees working on iMac computers © Getty Images
The late 1990s tech boom brought huge changes
(Image credit: © Getty Images)

US technology giants are now behaving like a defensive investment, says John Authers on Bloomberg. While global stockmarkets tanked at the start of this week, high-flying companies such as Apple and Amazon gained again.

That goes to show that the tech pullback that rattled investors earlier this month was a sign of bullishness, not bearishness, says Authers. Growing confidence about economic reopening and hope that a vaccine will deliver us from the pandemic sparked a shift into sectors such as banks that are likely to benefit. This week’s second wave fears undid that, sending them fleeing back into tech. With an “entrenched competitive position” and “relative immunity” to pandemic disruption, technology has become the equity investor’s safe-haven of choice.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.