Covid-19: Big tech’s domination of business reaches new heights

US tech titans flew high before the coronavirus pandemic, making billions of dollars a year.

Now the upheaval has lifted them to new heights, putting the industry in a position to dominate US business in a way unseen since the days of railroads.

A rally in technology stocks elevated the S&P 500 stock index to a record high Tuesday even as the pandemic crushes the broader economy. The stocks of Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Facebook, the five largest publicly traded US companies, rose 37 per cent in the first seven months this year, while all the other stocks in the S&P 500 fell a combined six per cent, according to Credit Suisse.