Alphabet drops out of trillion-dollar club amid coronavirus rout
Google parent company Alphabet has dropped out of the prestigious trillion-dollar club after fears over the coronavirus outbreak prompted a wider global sell-off.
Shares in Alphabet dropped almost four per cent in New York trading this afternoon, taking its market capitalisation to just below $980bn (£758bn).
The fall came amid a wider decline across stock markets, with the Dow Jones index plummeting 2.9 per cent after the bell, shedding 830 points.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq, where Alphabet is listed, tumbled 3.4 per cent, while the S&P 500 dropped 2.8 per cent.
In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 3.6 per cent as it approached the end of the day. Germany’s Dax was four per cent lower and France’s CAC 40 had also shed four per cent.
It is the first time the Silicon Valley has dropped out of the trillion-dollar club since the beginning of the month.
Alphabet’s stock market valuation surged past the $1 trillion milestone for the first time in January — 22 years after the company was founded and 16 years after its stock market float.
The only other companies to hit the same price tag in the US are Apple and Amazon in 2018 and Microsoft last year.
Apple and Microsoft have since become even more valuable, while Amazon’s stock has dipped marginally below the $1 trillion mark.