What happened

In many ways, 2022 has been a year like no other, as investors and consumers alike have been looking for signs that the macroeconomic headwinds might eventually ease. October started off in rally mode, but a couple of new economic reports suggest relief is still a way off, sparking a wide-ranging sell-off on Wall Street.

With that as a backdrop, shares of Nvidia (NVDA 3.65%) tumbled as much as 4.1%, Shopify (SHOP 4.90%) slumped as much as 4.5%, and Palantir Technologies (PLTR 3.19%) slipped as much as 4.6%. As of 2:15 p.m. ET, the trio were still trading lower, down 0.7%, 1.8%, and 0.5%, respectively.

To be clear, there was nothing in the way of company-specific news driving these technology stocks lower today. It appears, therefore, that after two days of gains on Wall Street, investors were pouring over newly released economic data and what it suggests about the future.

So what

The first of two reports came from payroll processor Automatic Data Processing, which revealed that businesses added 208,000 new jobs in September, more than the 200,000 economists were expecting. While rising employment is generally a good thing, the strong jobs number increases the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates in a bid to combat inflation. Wall Street would have preferred it if hiring slowed somewhat, which would have suggested that the Fed's relentless rate hikes were working. 

The ADP report is often seen as a precursor to the official Bureau of Labor Statistics nonfarm payrolls report, which is scheduled to be released on Friday. The data is expected to show an increase of 275,000 jobs in September, so a higher number might prompt even more rate hikes by the Fed.

The second report came courtesy of the Institute for Supply Management. The Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which measures growth in the services sector, came in at 56.7% for September. While the rate of growth edged slightly lower than August, it was still higher than the reading of 56% anticipated by economists. 

Steady growth in the services sector is yet another indicator that it will take additional rate hikes to slow the fast-growing economy in order to cool red-hot inflation.

Now what

There wasn't much in the way of company-specific news and given the overall market downdraft, it's unlikely that any of these developments would have moved the needle in terms of stock prices.

Nvidia announced earlier this week that it plans to cut ties with Russia, giving its workers the opportunity to continue their employment in other countries. "After previously suspending shipments to the country, we had continued to maintain our office to support our employees and their families. With recent developments, we can no longer operate effectively there," the company said in a statement. Nvidia already stopped selling semiconductors in Russia back in March. Historically, the country only represented about 2% of Nvidia's revenue, so this won't make a big dent in the company's overall financial results. 

For its part, Palantir recently announced a partnership with Concordance Healthcare Solutions, one of the largest independent healthcare distributors in the U.S. The pair are working to create the "first, fully integrated medical supply chain ecosystem -- bringing together inventory and supply chain data from manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and providers into one cohesive, real-time system." This collaboration is good news for Palantir investors, as the company has been working to decrease its reliance on government contracts and grow the corporate side of its software and data mining solutions business. 

With the persistent macroeconomic headwinds weighing on investor sentiment, it's easy to see why investors might be a bit leery of putting money to work in such a market. Yet for those with available funds and a long-term investing time horizon, this is actually an ideal time to consider buying these stocks.

As a result of the ongoing bear market, shares of Nvidia, Palantir, and Shopify are currently trading 61%, 69%, and 82% off their respective highs. Furthermore, these industry leaders are currently selling at 10, seven, and five times next years' sales, respectively, each near their lowest valuations in several years. That's not to say these stocks couldn't fall further -- in fact, they probably will. Furthermore, they aren't cheap in terms of traditional valuation metrics, as a reasonable price-to-sales ratio is considered to be between 1 and 2. However, given their long-term opportunities and the ability to dominate their respective industries, this might be a great opportunity to buy shares of these best-of-breed companies at a discount.