Wall Street indices edge lower as tech earnings disappoint

S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped into the red while Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the trend, posting minor gains.

The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched lower on February 5 after mixed fter mixed earnings from Google parent- Alphabet and chipmaker AMD, along with losses in Apple, weighed on the sentiment.

As of 8.17 pm Indian Standard Time, the broader S&P 500 index was trading 0.1 percent lower, while the Nasdaq was down 0 5 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average bucked the weak open and moved 0.2 percent higher.

This comes amid growing fears of a full-fledged trade war, fueled by Trump's tariff plans. While Canada and Mexico received a temporary reprieve with a 30-day extension, concerns now center on escalating tensions between the US and China. Over the weekend, the US imposed a 10 percent levy on Chinese imports, prompting China to retaliate with tariffs of up to 15 percent on US goods, further straining trade relations between the two economic giants.

Meanwhile, corporate earnings left investors with little to rejoice. Alphabet's shares dropped 7 percent after the Google parent reported cloud revenues that came below expectations, with increased AI-related spending fuelling concerns over the company's ability to capitalise on its artificial intelligence ambitions quickly. The company’s overall quarterly revenue also missed estimates, further dampening investor sentiment.

Similarly, AMD shares tanked 10 percent after the chipmaker reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter data centre revenue. Adding to the weakness in the tech sector, Apple’s shares dropped 2 percent following a Bloomberg News report that Chinese regulators were considering launching a formal investigation into the company’s App Store fees and policies.

Shares of Uber dropped over 6 percent after the ride-sharing company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue but issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the first quarter. Uber forecasted its gross bookings for the current quarter to be between $42 billion and $43.5 billion, with analyst estimates generally aligned with the higher end of this range, according to FactSet.

Wall Street indices had ended the previous session on a positive note, buoyed by a pause in Trump's tariffs on Mexico and Canada.

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