Twitter (TWTR) shares were mysteriously battered as trading started Thursday. The stock fell as much as 8% during the morning trade, even as investors and market observers were sent scrambling as to why the market was responding negatively.
By 11 AM ET, the stock had reached its lowest level since October 24, though it gradually gained since then. By 1:20 PM ET, the stock was down only 4.6%.
A few stock followers have suggested that a report by POLITICO on Fox News’ boycott of the platform since earlier this month is likely to be the reason for the sell-off. According to the report, the boycott is a silent protest against the micro-blogging site, after some users publically shared the home address of its host Tucker Carlson on Twitter.
The media giant, which has 18.3 million followers on Twitter, hasn’t tweeted since November 8.
Meanwhile, market observers are unsure whether this could be the reason for the sell-off as the reason is not “strong enough.”
It may be noted that most tech peers had a joyride in the stock market yesterday, but Twitter did not participate in the rally. Head trader at US Global Investors Michael Matousek told Bloomberg, “The bullish bias of investors has been broken, and even a small news story can be used as an opportunity to sell.”
Twitter shares have gained 30% so far this year.