Tech gets demolished: The 5 hottest tech stocks just lost $172 billion in market value

• The stock market decline Wednesday hit the biggest tech stocks particularly hard.

• Together, the FAANG companies - Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google - lost a collective $US172 billion in value.

• Amazon was the biggest loser; it shed $US56 billion in market capitalisation.

---

The stock market took a big bite out of the FAANGs on Wednesday.

Collectively, the Big Five tech firms - Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google - lost $US172 billion in value over the span of a few hours on Wednesday, amid a broad slump in the market. That's about the same amount as Toyota's entire market capitalisation - and it's equivalent to the dollar value of the entire gross domestic product of Algeria. In terms of value lost, Amazon was the big loser of the group. Its shares fell 6% on Wednesday, vaporizing $US56 billion of its market capitalisation. Apple was next; it lost nearly $US51 billion on a 4.6% fall - an amount $US6 billion greater than the entire value of General Motors.

But Netflix was the biggest loser on a percentage basis. It's shares declined by 8%, shedding about $US13 billion in the process.

Facebook, which has had its share of troubles recently, fell 4% and lost $US15.7 billion in market value. And Google's4.6% slide left its market cap $US36.7 billion lighter.

The decline came amid a big selloff in the market. The S&P 500 fell 3.3%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 3.2%, and and the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 4.1%. The Dow's drop was its largest since February, while the Nasdaq's was its biggest in more than two years.

In just the last week (i.e., since October 3), the FAANG stocks have lost $US303.7 billion in market valuation.

Wednesday's selloff appeared to be sparked by concerns about global growth and conflicts over trade.