Why the Afterpay share price crashed 9% lower today

The Afterpay Ltd (ASX:APT) share price crashed as much as 9% lower this morning. Here's why its shares have been sold off today…

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The Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has been out of form on Friday and is on course to end the week with a sizeable decline.

In early trade the payments company's shares fell as much as 9% to $76.13.

They have since recovered a touch but are still down a disappointing 5% to $79.68.

Why is the Afterpay share price dropping lower?

Investors have been selling Afterpay and other ASX tech shares on Friday after Wall Street's tech-focused Nasdaq index crashed lower overnight.

The Nasdaq index fell a sizeable 5% on Thursday night in what appears to have been a move driven by profit taking after some very strong gains in 2020.

One of the worst performers was the Apple share price. It lost a massive 8% of its value overnight.

However, it is worth noting that even after the Nasdaq's sizeable decline, the famous index is up an incredible 26% since the start of the year despite the global pandemic.

What about other tech shares?

It isn't just the Afterpay share price that is under pressure on Friday. Australian investors are selling a wide range of popular tech shares this morning.

Among the declines are the Appen Ltd (ASX: APX) share price and the Xero Limited (ASX: XRO) share price. At the time of writing, Appen shares are down 6% to $32.65 and Xero shares are over 4% lower at $96.26.

The WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price is another poor performer. The logistics solutions company's shares have fallen 7% to $27.70.

The Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price has also fallen by the same margin, along with fellow high-flying ecommerce company Redbubble Ltd (ASX: RBL).

Is this a buying opportunity?

When the dust settles on this selling I think there will certainly be a few buying opportunities.

The one that jumps out most to me is Appen. With its shares now down 25% from their 52-week high, I think it could be an opportune time to make a long term investment.

James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia's parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of Kogan.com ltd, WiseTech Global, and Xero. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of AFTERPAY T FPO and Appen Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Kogan.com ltd. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. 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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