The Nasdaq Just Had Its Worst Day in 4 Months. Here's the Level That Would Signal a Correction, and What History Says Investors Can Do About It.

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Nasdaq’s Rough Day and What It Means for SA Tech Investors

A sharp Nasdaq dip highlights risks in tech-heavy portfolios, with lessons for investors watching the rand and local counters.

The Nasdaq’s 2.6% drop on October 22 is a bloody reminder of how tech stocks can quickly sour, especially when concerns emerge over massive AI infrastructure spending. We’re not in correction territory yet—a further 4.1% fall is needed—but such volatility has become the norm. For South African investors, the implications are clear. Naspers and Prosus, SA’s gateways to global tech, often trade in sync with their US counterparts. When fears hit US mega-caps like Microsoft and Nvidia, these local stocks can get hit too, sometimes double. Meanwhile, the USD/ZAR usually reacts with some rand weakness as global risk appetite wanes. The silver lining is history; corrections, while nerve-wracking, tend to be short-lived if the underlying earnings story stays intact. My advice: don’t panic out of quality growth stocks like Prosus just because markets are jittery. But do trim aggressive positions and keep an eye on valuation. This view could be wrong if US tech rebounds sharply or if South African growth stocks decouple positively from global tech fears. this is just our opinion and not financial advice