Wall Street today: Lacklustre Tesla & Alphabet results drag Nasdaq down nearly 2%

US stocks declined on Wednesday, led by the tech-heavy Nasdaq after lackluster quarterly results from Tesla and Alphabet.

At 9:51 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 203.99 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 40,154.10, the S&P 500 was down 64.25 points, or 1.16 per cent, at 5,491.49, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 328.36 points, or 1.82 per cent, at 17,669.00.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 147.46 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 40,210.63. The S&P 500 was lower by 49.90 points, or 0.90 per cent, at 5,505.84, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 263.44 points, or 1.46 per cent, to 17,733.91.

Tesla shares slumped 11.2 per cent after the EV maker reported its lowest profit margin in more than five years and missed second quarter earnings estimates.

Google parent Alphabet lost 4.1 per cent despite posting better than expected second quarter earnings.

But, the company flagged high capital expenses for the year and its advertising growth also declined.

AT&T shares rose 3.6 per cent after beating forecasts for wireless subscriber additions.

Visa stock shed 3.9 per cent after the company’s third quarter revenue posted fell short of estimates.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.23 per cent from 4.25 per cent late on Tuesday.

On economic front, a S&P Global's flash US Composite PMI Output Index report on Wednesday showed that business activity surged to a 27-month high in July.

Crude oil

Oil prices rose on Wednesday after an industry report indicated that US crude inventories fell for a fourth week.

Brent crude futures for September rose 66 cents, or 0.81 per cent, to $81.67 a barrel by 1300 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude for September increased 78 cents, or 1.01 per cent, to $77.74 per barrel.

Bullion

Gold prices edged higher on Wednesday as the dollar slipped.

Spot gold was up 0.7 per cent at $2,425.28 per ounce, as of 1349 GMT. US gold futures gained 0.8 per cent to $2,426.60.