Facebook drags tech companies down
Stocks fell sharply on Monday, as data privacy concerns engulfed Facebook and drove a tech sell-off that weighed on the broader market, Fox Business reported.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 335.60 points, or 1.35%, to 24,610.91. The S&P 500 fell 39.09, or 1.42%, to 2,712.92 The Nasdaq Composite retreated 137.74 points, or 1.84%, to 7,344.24.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq was dragged lower by Facebook, which fell about 6.8%, its steepest one-day loss in years. Facebook is being criticized by lawmakers after disclosing that conservative-leaning Cambridge Analytica, a data company known for its work on Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, was given access to customer data. Reports suggested that Cambridge Analytica may not have deleted the data. The company disclosed the problem late Friday.
Facebook said it has hired a digital forensics firm to investigate the matter, and Cambridge Analytica agreed to comply with the review. Cambridge Analytica issued a statement saying is has deleted all data it received from Facebook, adding that it did not use the information as part of its work with the Trump campaign.