Feb 05 2024, 08:13
Stock market crash: What to do when your large-cap stocks plunge?
The key takeaway is that large-cap stocks seem stable, but are not immune to sudden dips. Panic can play a role, but it's crucial to remember the inherent strength and momentum of these companies. Don't let short-term fluctuations, especially during panic selling, cloud your judgement about a company's long-term potential.
A few days ago, the HDFC Bank stock had a bit of meltdown, losing over 8% in a day, and then some more over the next few days. While such crashes are common for stocks of smaller companies, these are rarer in large-cap companies. The bigger stocks are typically stable. There are various reasons for this, but large, listed companies usually have good information flow and are well understood by investors.
The biggest such event occurred a couple of years ago with Facebook. In January and February 2022, the company's stock lost more than a quarter of its value in just a few days, amounting to a humongous $200 billion. At that time, the reason was the sudden realisation by investors that the new version of Apple's iPhone operating system had privacy features, which could sharply curtail the advertising revenues for the Facebook app on the platform.
Were the fears justified? Amazingly, it's hard to tell, even though the stock fell very low for a while. So many other things went wrong, and then right, with the Facebook stock, that the impact of one particular factor cannot be teased out. However, two years later, the stock is higher than it has ever been. Looking back with the advantage of hindsight, all one can conclude is that the deep trough that the Facebook stock fell into was a great buying opportunity for investors who believed in the company.
source: et
Feb 05 2024, 08:38