Megacap technology companies Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Tesla and Meta traded higher on Friday, recovering some of their recent losses. The companies had seen big selloffs as market sentiment soured over the past few weeks. Faster inflation, a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike and strict Covid lockdowns in China conspired to bring the tech-heavy Nasdaq index of higher-risk stocks into a bear market. The benchmark Nasdaq 100 has lost more than $1 trillion of market value this month. News that China on Friday unexpectedly lowered a key interest rate that is used as a benchmark for mortgages lifted stocks worldwide. The move raises hopes that the economic slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy won’t be as bad as feared. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 1.6% in premarket trading Friday, though the index remains 15% lower than it was a year ago. Apple (ticker: AAPL), the world’s most valuable company until it was overtaken by Saudi Aramco (2222.SA) a few months ago, climbed 1.4%. Microsoft (MSFT) was up 1.7%, Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) traded up 1.2%, electric-car maker Tesla (TSLA) gained 2.3%, and Meta (FB), the parent company of Facebook, rose 1.4% in the pre-market.