The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC -2.15%) includes almost every company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange, so it’s often a good proxy for the performance of the broader technology industry. As of the close on Friday, April 5, the index was down by 22% from its all-time high, which officially places it in a bear market.
The sharp sell-off was triggered by President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement last week, which will raise the price of all imported goods flowing into the U.S. Countries including China have already implemented tariffs in retaliation, so investors are concerned about the possibility of a global trade war, which could hurt economic growth.
That would be a bad thing for all American companies, but some could suffer a lesser impact than others because they aren’t directly subject to tariffs.
For example, software and digital products were excluded from Trump’s initial round of penalties, so…
