FMC plunges 33% on lower quarterly income forecast

Uber decreases after directing Q1 bookings below quotes

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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 biggest drag after the tech giant's ugly cloud income and significant investments into expert system disappointed investors, while a variety of profits added to the volatility.

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

"The marketplace has some proof to recommend that there are other companies that potentially doing it more affordable, much better, faster, quicker," said Dave Grecsek, handling director in planning technique and research at Aspiriant.

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

AI-related stocks were rocked recently following the soaring popularity of a low-cost Chinese artificial intelligence design developed by start-up

DeepSeek

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

Advanced Micro Devices, on the other hand, 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 activity unexpectedly slowed in January in the middle of cooling need, helping curb cost growth, a reading from the Institute for Supply Management revealed.

Private payrolls rose by 183,000 tasks last month, compared with an approximated 150,000 boost, per economic experts surveyed by Reuters. The all-important January nonfarm payrolls report is expected to be released on Friday.

Shares of Apple eased 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, 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%, to 19,586.61.

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

Uber Technologies dropped 7.2% after the ride-hailing company anticipated current-quarter bookings below estimates.

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

Markets likewise looked for developments on the tariffs front after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he remained in no hurry to talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping to attempt to defuse a brand-new trade war in 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, immigration, policies and other Trump administration initiatives.

Among leading movers, FMC Corp plunged 33.6% after the agrichemicals manufacturer forecast first-quarter revenue below quotes.

Johnson Controls leapt 11.1% as the structure options company named Joakim Weidemanis as primary executive officer and trade-britanica.trade raised its 2025 revenue projection.

Advancing issues 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 brand-new 52-week highs and 12 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite tape-recorded 81 new highs and 69 brand-new lows.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai, Devika Syamnath and Maju Samuel)