AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
© Tank_bmb | Megapixl.com
Summary
- On Friday, Block trades worth over US$10.5 billion were executed in the US-listed media and technology companies by investment bankers on behalf of anonymous investors.
- The bearish environment wiped out almost US$35 billion from the market capitalisation of Wall Street players.
- The US media conglomerates and the Chinese technology stocks on Wall Street witnessed high volatility during the trading session.
The relentless spree of block trade worth US$10.5 billion was executed during the trading session on 26 March 2021. The sudden selloff struck Wall street on Friday and wiped out almost US$35 billion from the market capitalisation of industry big wigs, including the US media conglomerates and the Chinese technology players.
As per the media reports, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley managed the stock offerings on the bourses. Some of the high-volume transactions exceeded over US$1 bn mark and were managed by the investment bankers on behalf of undisclosed investors. The sell-off prompted speculation of forced selling due to the liquidation of a fund.
Read Here: Big 6 Banks Book Profit: Was BoC Right About Economy Surviving COVID?
As per the media reports, the block trades affected Chinese stocks listed on Wall Street, including Vipshop Holdings Ltd, Tencent Music Entertainment Group and Baidu Inc. The US-based media firms Discovery Inc. and ViacomCBS Inc. have also affected adversely.
Unparalleled Event in the Wall Street’s History
While major trades and portfolio managers were stunned by the sudden sell-offs, some of them have come forward and told that a series of block trades such as the Friday one is the first in the past two or three decades.
Source: © Sbotas | Megapixl.com
The investors still remain anonymous and may have triggered a new concern for the recovering equity markets globally.
Important Read: Three tips to help deal with market volatility
Let us see the share price movement of some of the US listed media firms –
- Discovery Inc. witnessed a 27.74% decline in the share price, trading at an average price of US$45.52 a share with a daily range of US$23.61.
- ViacomCBS Inc recorded a 25.15% decrease in the share price, with the day’s trading volume of 216,631,041 units against the average volumes of 23,450,606 shares.
- Tencent Music Entertainment Group slid by ~1.23%, with the stock fluctuating between US$16.31 and US$21.12 a share on Friday.
- Baidu Inc closed after gaining over 1.97%, with the stock prices dipping to US$174 during the trading session.
The Friday's block trades may influence similar price movements and trading patterns across the Asian and other global stock markets when they open on Monday. The ambiguities raise eyebrows on the incident and the identity of anonymous investors.
Further, the sudden volatility in the equity markets may encourage investors to switch to safe-haven investment assets. The event may prove to be the trigger for another gold rally that has been consolidating under pressure from the rising US treasury bond yields.
