Tech falls as social media grilled

MARLEY JAY

NEW YORK — Technology companies dropped Wednesday as Facebook and Twitter executives testified before Congress. Consumer-focused companies like Amazon and Netflix also slumped.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey told a Senate panel they are working to stop manipulation of their services by foreign countries. Legislators criticized Alphabet, Google’s parent company, for refusing to send its CEO to the hearing.

In a separate hearing, House Republicans accused Twitter of bias against conservatives, a charge not backed up by evidence.

The United States and Canada resumed negotiations to try to keep Canada in an updated North American trade pact that also includes Mexico. Canada’s trade envoy sounded positive after three hours of talks, and investors are confident Canada will be included in the final deal.

Technology companies such as Microsoft and consumer-focused companies, most notably Amazon, have done far better than the broader stock market for years, and throughout that time they have quickly recovered from nearly every brief decline.

But Julian Emanuel, chief equity and derivative strategist for BTIG, said Wednesday’s hearing came at a time when investors have more concerns about those stocks than in recent years: Facebook, Twitter and Netflix all plunged about 20 percent in July after they reported weak user growth, and they’re yet to recover.

“The reflex reaction to buy these names on every dip, which has been the case the last few years, has broken,” he said. “That kind of damage takes a bit of time to heal itself.”

The S&P 500 index slid 8.12 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,888.60. The Nasdaq composite, which has a high concentration of technology companies, tumbled 96.07 points, or 1.2 percent, to 7,995.17. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks lost 5.73 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,727.65.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 22.51 points, or 0.1 percent, to 25,974.99 as the weaker dollar sent industrial companies including 3M and Caterpillar sharply higher.

U.S. shares of Chinese Internet retailer JD.com dropped another 10.6 percent to $26.30 after a Minneapolis police report showed company founder and CEO Richard Liu was arrested over a felony rape accusation.

The dollar rose to 111.51 yen from 111.48 yen. The euro rose to $1.1623 from $1.1581. The ICE US Dollar index slipped, which helped exporters including industrial and materials companies. The weaker dollar also sent metals prices higher.

Benchmark U.S. crude declined 1.6 percent to $68.72 per barrel in New York while Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed 1.2 percent to $77.27 per barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline lost 1.5 percent to $1.96 a gallon. Heating oil fell 0.9 percent to $2.23 a gallon. Natural gas slid 1 percent to $2.80 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Bond prices held steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note remained at 2.90 percent.

Gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,201.30 an ounce. Silver added 0.3 percent to $14.22 an ounce. Copper rose 0.3 percent to $2.61 a pound.

The French CAC 40 fell 1.5 percent while Germany’s DAX lost 1.4 percent. In London the FTSE 100 shed 1 percent.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 retreated 0.5 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.6 percent. Seoul’s Kospi declined 1 percent.