Sept 7 Reuters Apple fell nearly 4 on Thursday and sparked a selloff in tech stocks after reports that China has widened curbs on iPhone use by government staff in one of the U.S. company39;s biggest markets.

The world39;s most valuable firm was set to lose around 100 billion in market value after suffering its worst oneday drop in more than a month on Wednesday.

Apple suppliers and companies with large China exposure including Broadcom, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments fell between 1.4 and 4.7. The iPhone maker39;s drop also weighed on the three main U.S. stock indexes.

Reuters reported earlier in the day that Beijing told employees at some central government agencies in recent weeks to stop using their Apple mobiles at work.

The reported move deepened fears about the financial toll from rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The U.S. has in recent years restricted China39;s access to key technologies including cuttingedge chips, while Beijing has tried to reduce its reliance on American tech and curbed shipments from U.S. firms including planemaker Boeing.

Several Wall Street analysts said the curbs on the iPhone show that even a company with a good relationship with the Chinese government and large presence in the world39;s secondlargest economy was not immune to rising SinoU.S. tensions.

The moves by Beijing also come at a time when Apple is grappling with a decline in iPhone sales, with China being a bright spot in what was an otherwise disappointing…