Apple shares fell 3.6% to $290.70 after the company laid out its AI strategy at its Worldwide Developers Conference. Wedbush analysts called the announcements “a good step in the right direction” and said AI monetization would ultimately add $75 to $100 to Apple’s stock price. But UBS analysts said the offerings were “a solid foundation” for its edge AI platform rather than a material driver of iPhone demand in a competitive consumer market. The broader tech selloff pushed the Nasdaq Composite down more than 2%, to close at 25,678.82. The S&P 500 stood at 7,386.65. Major tech stocks including Nvidia lost 3.6%.
Bitcoin slumped 4% to $60,964, its lowest level since September 2024, extending a broad cryptocurrency rout. Ethereum dropped 3.7% to $1,627, XRP fell 4.1% to $1.12, and Solana slid 5% to $64.06. Privacy coins also retreated, with Zcash down 6.7% to $429.36 and XMR off 1.8% to $309. Bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows of $91.4 million on Monday, a slowing but continued exodus after hundreds of millions in daily outflows in recent weeks. Short-term bitcoin holders experienced their worst week since January 2015, according to crypto exchange Cex.io, though the current drop is far less severe than the 50% two-week plunge a decade ago.
Private-equity buyouts in the technology sector worldwide totaled $20 billion in the first quarter of 2026, down about 70% from $65 billion in the prior quarter, according to Bain & Co. The consulting firm attributed the slump to uncertainty about AI’s impact on software valuations. “February’s nearly 30% drop in public-market software valuations (and subsequent partial recovery) signaled the degree to which uncertainty around AI’s impacts is unnerving investors and clouding future prospects,” Bain said. Software companies held by private-equity firms saw valuations decline roughly 8% on average through March, with European marks falling 4.2% compared with 8.9% in the U.S.
SK Hynix is planning a U.S. listing through American depositary receipts as early as August, which analysts at Meritz Securities said could narrow its valuation gap with rival Micron Technology. Meritz expects SK Hynix to continue delivering strong earnings on robust chip demand and tight supply, projecting operating profit of 66 trillion won in the second quarter and 270 trillion won for 2026.
ZipRecruiter said its job search services will become available through Anthropic’s Claude chatbots, enabling users to search for job postings using natural language. “There’s so much potential for AI to improve how people find jobs, and we will be wherever job seekers are looking,” CEO Ian Siegel said. More features are expected in the coming months.
Kioxia Holdings, a Japanese NAND flash memory producer, indicated at an investor day that it has entered a “supercycle,” according to Nomura analysts, who raised the stock’s target price to ¥115,000 from ¥68,000 with a buy rating. The company cited a forecast from TechInsights for the NAND market to grow to around $450 billion in 2027 from around $300 billion in 2026.
Tencent plans to raise about $4.66 billion through a combination of dollar and yuan-denominated notes for refinancing and general purposes, CreditSights analysts said. They view the company’s key credit strengths as its dominant position in gaming, social networking, and digital services in China, supported by a large user ecosystem. CreditSights projects a small but manageable decline in EBITDA margin from higher AI-related spending.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, speaking at a WSJ CEO Council event, said Europe is exploring ways to retain and attract its top tech talent and companies. The region has long produced skilled graduates who often end up in Silicon Valley. Metsola said Europe is working to make permitting easier and ensure capital moves freely between countries.
In the U.K., VodafoneThree is considering a bid for TalkTalk’s consumer broadband business, according to the Financial Times. Berenberg analysts said such a deal would be positive for BT’s Openreach by replacing TalkTalk’s fragile balance sheet with Vodafone’s stronger one, reducing the risk of non-payment of lease fees.