Social media and semiconductor equipment stocks were the big losers in midday trading.
The social media sector saw further selling after being hit hard when executives from Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) testified on Capitol Hill yesterday.
The S&P Information Technology index fell about 1% at 11:55 AM ET (15:55 GMT).
Twitter lost about 4.6%, while Facebook fell about 2.6% and Google parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), which declined to send an executive to talk to Congress, sank about 2%.
The semiconductor equipment stocks also struggled.
KLA-Tencor (NASDAQ:KLAC) was down about 8.5%, the biggest loser in the S&P tech sector index.
Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) lost about 8%, while Lam Research (NASDAQ:LRCX) shed about 6%.
Among gainers, Jd.Com (NASDAQ:JD) jumped about 4%, clawing back some of the losses after its CEO was arrested on suspicion of rape.
