By Mark DeCambre and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Facebook's shares on track for worst single-session decline in about 4 years

U.S. stock benchmarks traded sharply lower on Monday, with technology shares facing the steepest selling pressure amid concerns tied to Facebook Inc.'s management of user data.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve's coming rate decision has created some uneasiness as investors are expecting the central bank to adopt a more aggressive path to normalizing monetary policy and lifting borrowing costs.

Check out Need to Know column: Why the case for betting against Facebook is 'building fast' (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-drumbeat-of-worries-around-facebook-and-other-tech-leaders-just-got-louder-2018-03-19)

What are the main benchmarks doing?

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 290 points, or 1.2%, to 24,652, led by a downdraft in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) and 3M Co. (MMM). The S&P 500 index shed 38 points, or 1.4%, to 2,713, weighed by a 2.6% decline in the technology sector, the worst performer among the broad-market benchmark's 11 sectors. All of the S&P's sectors were trading in the red (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/all-11-primary-sp-500-sectors-trade-lower-led-by-technology-2018-03-19).

The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite Index lost 158 points, or 2.1%, to 7,323.

Read: Social-media ETF falls with Facebook set for biggest drop since November 2016 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/social-media-etf-falls-with-facebook-set-for-biggest-drop-since-november-2016-2018-03-19)

The Dow has turned negative for the year, off 0.2%, while the S&P is up 1.6% for the year and the Nasdaq has advanced 6.1%. All three gauges have cut their year-to-date advances on Monday's selling.

What's driving markets?

The Federal Reserve has the attention of markets worldwide with an interest-rate hike expected on Wednesday following a two-day meeting of the central bank's policy group, the Federal Open Market Committee. Higher interest rates can make riskier assets such as stocks less attractive.

Investors also have been worrying this month about a potential global trade war. Concerns about trade friction come as the Trump administration takes a hawkish stance on trade with China and moves ahead with tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-trade-groups-urge-trump-to-halt-tariff-plans-2018-03-18).

See:Web's creator blasts Facebook, saying it makes his invention easy to 'weaponize' (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/webs-creator-blasts-the-tech-giants-that-make-his-invention-easy-to-weaponize-2018-03-12)

Check out:The Fed is hogging the attention, but don't forget this critical number (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-fed-is-hogging-the-attention-but-dont-forget-this-critical-number-for-the-economy-2018-03-17)

There are no Fed speeches and no top-tier U.S. economic reports expected on Monday.

Which stocks are in focus?

Shares of Facebook (FB) shed 6.8% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebooks-nearly-6-drop-puts-it-on-pace-for-worst-daily-decline-in-about-2-years-2018-03-19) as the social-media giant has ignited a firestorm (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/facebook-sparks-international-furor-over-third-party-access-to-user-data-2018-03-18) over how it manages third-party access to its users' information, after saying a firm with ties to the 2016 Trump campaign improperly kept member data for years despite saying it had destroyed those records.

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) said Monday it plans to acquire (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kla-tencor-to-acquire-orbotech-in-deal-with-equity-value-of-about-34-billion-2018-03-19) Israeli electronics technology company Orbotech Ltd. (ORBK) in a deal with valued at about $3.4 billion and an enterprise value of about $3.2 billion. KLA-Tencor shares were down 4.5%, while those for Orbotech were up 6.5%.

Toronto-based cannabis company Cronos Group Inc.'s shares (CRON.V)climbed 9.4% Monday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cannabis-company-cronos-group-enters-cross-border-joint-venture-with-medmen-2018-03-19), after the company said it has entered a cross-border joint venture with MM Enterprises USA LLC, or MedMen Enterprises, to develop branded products and open stores across Canada.

What are strategists saying?

"Equities are lower and Treasury yields are higher and I think it may be signaling that there's some anxiety abut how hawkish the FOMC will be on Wednesday," said Brian Jacobsen, senior investment strategist at Wells Fargo Asset Management.

As for the tech slide, Jacobsen declined to talk about specific companies but said trepidation around "what is going on with advertising as a source of revenue" for some companies is one reason why some social media names are facing selling.

"The market is pricing in a 97.9% likelihood of a rate hike at this meeting. The big question then will be the 'dot plot' giving the FOMC members' estimates of where rates will be at the end of this year and next," said Marshall Gittler, chief strategist at ACLS Global, in a note.

"I expect that the committee will indeed revise up their forecast for rates, for next year if not for this year, and that this will boost the dollar."

"Short-term I think we're just going to have a lot of trepidation until the new Fed chairman speaks," said Crista Huff, chief analyst at Cabot Undervalued Stocks Advisor/

Read more: What to expect from the new Fed dot plot on interest rates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-to-expect-from-the-new-fed-dot-plot-on-interest-rates-2018-03-16)

And see:It's time for stock-market investors to refocus on the Fed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/now-its-time-for-the-stock-market-to-refocus-on-the-fed-2018-03-16)

Apple Inc.(AAPL) is reportedly designing and making its own display screens (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-is-making-its-own-display-screens-for-the-first-time-bloomberg-2018-03-19) for the first time. The iPhone maker's shares were down 1.5%.

Check out:This surging stock looks like a promising bet on electric cars--and it's not Tesla (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-surging-stock-looks-like-a-promising-bet-on-electric-cars-and-its-not-tesla-2018-03-17)

What are other markets doing?

European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-build-on-losses-as-micro-focus-shares-plunge-2018-03-19) lost ground, while Asian markets finished mixed (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nikkei-leads-asian-market-declines-to-start-the-week-2018-03-18), with Japan's Nikkei benchmark down 0.9% as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faced mounting pressure over a land-sale scandal.

March Madness:It's official--all brackets have been busted (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-official-all-the-march-madness-brackets-have-been-busted-2018-03-18)

And see:Live scores and win probabilities of every NCAA Tournament game (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/live-scores-and-win-probabilties-of-every-ncaa-tournament-game-2018-03-15)

Oil futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-ease-but-saudi-iran-tensions-keep-a-floor-in-market-2018-03-19) and the ICE U.S. Dollar Index fell (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-starts-week-lower-as-british-pound-soars-on-brexit-agreement-2018-03-19), while gold futures (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-remains-under-pressure-ahead-of-expected-fed-rate-hike-2018-03-19) edged lower.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 19, 2018 12:04 ET (16:04 GMT)