What's going so wrong for ASX 200 tech shares on Wednesday?

ASX 200 tech shares are leading the market's losses today. What's going on?

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It's been a mildly negative day of trading for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) so far this Wednesday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 has lost 0.27% and is back to around 7,011 points. But ASX 200 tech shares are doing far worse.

The S&P/ASX 200 Information Technology Index (ASX: XIJ) is currently the worst performing ASX 200 sector by far today. The XIJ Index is presently down a painful 3.52%, far worse than any other ASX 200 sector.

And as one might expect, this has led to many ASX 200 tech shares recording some heavy losses today.

A couple sit at a desk with tissues and tears in their eyes while they look at a laptop computer screen with a camera set up in the foreground suggesting they are making a video.

Image source: Getty Images

ASX 200 tech shares lead the share market's losses

Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) and Life360 Inc (ASX: 360) seem to be leading the charge. These tech shares are currently down a painful 5.55% and 6.3%, respectively

But we also have Computershare Limited (ASX: CPU) down more than 5% and Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1) down more than 4.5%.

REA Group Limited (ASX: REA) and Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) have both fallen by over 3% today.

Lots of pain on the ASX 200 tech share front.

So what's going on here? Why do investors have a bee in the proverbial bonnet over the ASX 200 tech sector today?

Well, it seems the most likely explanation comes from the United States markets. Last night was a pretty grim session over in the US for tech shares. The tech-heavy NASDAQ-100 (NASDAQ: NDX) ended up dropping 1.15%.

But we had some famous individual shares falling by far more. Electric car and battery manufacturer Tesla dropped 2.44%. Chip maker NVIDIA fell by almost 4%, as did Salesforce Inc.

ASX 200 tech shares tend to take their queue from their US counterparts, perhaps more than any other ASX sector. Thus, we often see corresponding moves, in both directions, on the ASX following sessions on the US markets.

This could be what we are witnessing in the ASX 200 tech sector this Wednesday.

Motley Fool contributor Sebastian Bowen has positions in Nvidia and Tesla. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc., Life360, Inc., MEGAPORT FPO, Nvidia, Salesforce, Inc., Tesla, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has positions in and has recommended Block, Inc. and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended MEGAPORT FPO, Nvidia, REA Group Limited, and Salesforce, Inc. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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