Tech stocks drop as Congress scrutinizes social media

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 CEO 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 U.S. 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 like 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.

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.

Twitter fell 6.1 percent to $32.73 and Facebook lost 2.3 percent to $167.18. Video chat company Snap shed 4.5 percent to $10.11.

Many of the market’s largest companies and the year’s most successful stocks traded lower. Microsoft fell 2.9 percent to $108.49 and Alphabet slid 1 percent to $1,199.10. Amazon dropped 2.2 percent to $1,994.82 while Netflix sank 6.2 percent to $341.18.

Traditionally defensive companies did better. Utility Southern Co. rose 1.8 percent to $44.66 while PepsiCo gained 1.9 percent to $113.12. Utilities have fared worse than the broader S&P 500 this year, while household goods stocks have fallen.

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.