Investing.com - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell Wednesday, a day after notching record highs, as falling energy stocks and mixed corporate earnings did little to fuel further gains.
The S&P 500 fell 0.22% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.23%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.22%.
Energy stocks led the decline as oil prices came under pressure after the Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected build in weekly U.S. crude inventories.
The fall in energy stocks come despite an 11.6% surge in Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC) after Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) topped Chevron 's (NYSE:CVX) takeover bid for the company, setting the stage for a bidding war.
Communication services stocks also contributed to subdued day on Wall Street, led by a slump in AT&T (NYSE:T) and weakness in most FANG stocks.
AT&T reported in-line earnings of 86 cents a share for the first quarter, matching forecasts from Investing.com, but revenue of $44.83 billion undershot estimates.
Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX), Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) also ended the day in the red.
Among industrials, Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) fell more than 3% as its better-than-expected earnings were overshadowed by narrower margins as higher manufacturing freight costs weighed.
Boeing (NYSE:BA), meanwhile, ended higher as more clarity on the cost of its 737 MAX grounding overshadowed the lower-than-expected earnings and elimination of forward guidance.
The 737 MAX production slowdown alone has cost it $1 billion so far, Boeing said.
In tech, semiconductor stocks were powered by a rise in Texas Instruments (NASDAQ:TXN) after the chipmaker delivered an earnings beat on both the top and bottom lines after the bell yesterday.
Snap's (NYSE:SNAP) better-than-expected quarterly results were not greeted with the same vigor, as it gave up its initial pre-market gains to end the day lower as analysts fear the company's ramp-up in investment spending will stifle its path to profitability.
On the trade front, U.S. President Donald Trump said ongoing trade talks between the United States and China were going well, ahead of the next round of talks set for April 30 in Beijing, followed by further negotiations starting May 8 in Washington.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC), TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) and FLIR Systems (NASDAQ:FLIR) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
Rollins (NYSE:ROL), Robert Half International (NYSE:RHI) and National Oilwell Varco (NYSE:NOV) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.