The tech-heavy Nasdaq was taking a beating Monday as investors worried about the possibility of a major regulatory crackdown on some of the sector's leading companies.
Shares of Google owner Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Facebook (FB) and Apple (AAPL) had collectively lost nearly $145 billion in market value as of midday afternoon, thanks to several reports suggesting that the US Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission were going to look more closely at how much power these companies wield in the tech marketplace.
Alphabet has been lower all day, dropping nearly 7%, due to reports that the US Department of Justice was opening up an antitrust investigation. That news was followed by speculation that Amazon and Facebook may also be in the cross hairs of regulators. Amazon fell 4.5% while Facebook was down more than 7%.
If that wasn't enough, there were reports later Monday about Apple also being targeted in a government review of Big Tech. Apple shares gave up their gains from earlier in the day as a result, sliding about 1%. The stock had been higher in anticipation of new product announcements from its World Wide Developers Conference.