FMC plunges 33% on lower quarterly profits forecast

Uber declines after directing Q1 reservations below estimates

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Indexes: Dow up 0.15%, S&P 500 down 0.08%, Nasdaq down 0.34%

(Updates with afternoon rates)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta

Feb 5 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq slipped on Wednesday, with Alphabet the most significant drag after the tech giant's ugly cloud profits and large investments into synthetic intelligence disappointed financiers, while a variety of profits contributed to the volatility.

Google-parent Alphabet dropped 8.2% after publishing downbeat cloud earnings growth and earmarking a higher-than-expected $75 billion for its AI buildout this year.

"The marketplace has some evidence to suggest that there are other companies that possibly doing it cheaper, much better, quicker, quicker," said Dave Grecsek, managing director in preparation method and research at Aspiriant.

"So what is the knowledge of continuing to maintain high capex?"

AI-related stocks were rocked last week following the soaring popularity of an affordable Chinese expert system model developed by start-up

DeepSeek

. Nvidia, among the business that was the worst hit, was up 3.8% on the day.

Advanced Micro Devices, meanwhile, lost 8.9% after CEO Lisa Su said the company's current-quarter information center sales - a proxy for its AI profits - would fall about 7% from the previous quarter.

On the information front, U.S. services sector slowed in January in the middle of cooling demand, assisting curb rate development, a reading from the Institute for Supply Management showed.

Private payrolls rose by 183,000 jobs last month, compared with an estimated 150,000 increase, per economists surveyed by Reuters. The all-important January nonfarm payrolls report is anticipated to be released on Friday.

Shares of Apple alleviated 1.2% as Bloomberg News reported that China's antitrust regulator was getting ready for a possible examination of the iPhone maker.

At 11:33 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 65.83 points, yewiki.org or 0.15%, to 44,621.87, the S&P 500 lost 4.37 points, or 0.08%, to 6,033.51 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 70.17 points, or 0.34%, oke.zone to 19,586.61.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors traded greater, though interaction services' over 3% fall obscured gains.

Uber Technologies dropped 7.2% after the ride-hailing company forecast current-quarter reservations below price quotes.

Fiserv advanced 7.1% as the payments firm beat quotes for fourth-quarter earnings, assisted by strong demand in its banking and payments processing system.

Markets also tried to find developments on the tariffs front after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he remained in no rush to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to pacify a new trade war between the countries.

Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin said the Fed was still leaning towards more rate cuts this year, but flagged uncertainty around the impact of brand-new tariffs, pyra-handheld.com immigration, regulations and other Trump administration efforts.

Among leading movers, FMC Corp plunged 33.6% after the agrichemicals manufacturer projection first-quarter income below estimates.

Johnson Controls leapt 11.1% as the building options company called Joakim Weidemanis as chief executive officer and raised its 2025 revenue projection.

Advancing concerns surpassed decliners by a 2.03-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.6-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 27 new 52-week highs and 12 brand-new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 81 brand-new highs and 69 new lows.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru