US stocks pulled back on Wednesday after earnings from Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and AMD (AMD) fell short, with investors on alert for fresh moves in the brewing US-China trade war.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) slipped 0.6%, while the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) slid roughly 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was roughly flat after the major gauges closed with gains on Tuesday.
Alphabet's stock was under pressure, down more than 7%, after fourth quarter cloud revenue undershot estimates. The miss rattled investors concerned that the Google parent's hefty spending on AI won't see the hoped-for payoff any time soon.