Alphabet briefly drops $50 per share as Wall Street selling hammers tech stocks

Traders and financial professionals work after representatives from Slack rang the opening bell the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), June 20, 2019 in New York City. The workplace messaging app Slack will list on the New York Stock Exchange this morning. NYSE set the reference price for the direct listing at $26 per share late on Wednesday. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) less Traders and financial professionals work after representatives from Slack rang the opening bell the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), June 20, 2019 in New York City. The workplace messaging app Slack will list on ... more Photo: Drew Angerer, Getty Images Photo: Drew Angerer, Getty Images Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Alphabet briefly drops $50 per share as Wall Street selling hammers tech stocks 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A massive selloff on Wall Street did not spare San Francisco Bay Area firms on Monday as major tech giants saw their stocks tumble.

The downturn comes after China let its currency sink to the lowest level in more than a decade, escalating its trade war with the U.S.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 800 points Monday, or 3%, its worst drop of the year.

Technology companies and banks fell the most. By noon Pacific time, Apple had lost five percent of its value, nearly $11 per-share. The stock closed down $10.68.

The per share loss was even greater at Google's parent company Alphabet. Stock was down more than $50 at one point in afternoon trading before recovering to close down $41.57.

Facebook, Salesforce and Uber were down between four and five percent in afternoon trading.

China's central bank allowed the yuan to sink below seven per dollar. Investors are concerned that Beijing is using its currency as a weapon in its trade skirmish with Washington.

The escalations in the trade war between the world's largest economies are rattling investors already unnerved about a slowing global economy, falling U.S. corporate profits and possibly too-weak inflation.

"The Great China Trade Deal evaporated before our eyes last week and investors should stop hoping it back into existence," Christopher Smart, head of the Barings Investments Institute, wrote in a report.

Losses were steep and worldwide as the sell-off that began Monday in Asia swept westward through Europe to the Americas. Investors in search of safety herded into U.S. government bonds, which sent yields plunging lower.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.