The Nasdaq composite suffered one of its sharpest sell-offs in years Friday, wiping out $1.71 trillion in market capitalization in a single day — the biggest drop in value ever recorded for the exchange.

Investors reacted to stronger-than-expected economic data, rising interest-rate concerns, weakness in artificial intelligence-related stocks, and mounting geopolitical uncertainty.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 4.18%, marking its worst single-day decline since April 2025.

While the percentage decline was smaller than some of the most dramatic sell-offs during the COVID-19 market crash of 2020, the sheer size of the dollar loss exceeded previous records due to the enormous valuations of today's technology giants.

By comparison, there were huge losses during the pandemic-driven market turmoil:

On March 9, 2020, the Nasdaq fell 7.3%, erasing an estimated $825 billion in market value.

On March 12, 2020, the index dropped 9.4%, resulting in roughly $1 trillion in losses.

On March 16, 2020, the Nasdaq plunged 12.3%, wiping out between $1.1 trillion and $1.3 trillion.

The only comparable decline in percentage terms remains the market crashes of 2020 and the aftermath of Black Monday in 1987, when the Nasdaq fell 11.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered a historic 22.6% collapse.

Today's losses, however, appear to represent the largest single-day destruction of Nasdaq market value in absolute dollar terms.

Analysts pointed to a combination of factors behind the sell-off.

Investors reassessed expectations for Federal Reserve policy after stronger-than-expected employment data reduced hopes for imminent interest-rate cuts.

 Higher rates tend to weigh most heavily on high-growth technology companies whose valuations depend on future earnings.