The Dow lost its three-day winning streak Wednesday as a slump in video game stocks offset gains in healthcare.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.08%, the S&P 500 fell 0.22%, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.36%. The S&P 500's loss was its first after five-straight gains.
Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive came under heavy selling pressure after delivering quarterly earnings and guidance that fell short of estimates, fueling fears video game earnings may have peaked.
Electronic Arts' (NASDAQ:EA) third-quarter earnings of $0.86 a share and revenue of $1.29 billion undershot 's estimates, sending its shares 13% lower.
Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO), the maker of the hit game "Red Dead Redemption 2," missed 's third-quarter revenue and earnings estimates. It also guided fourth-quarter revenue in a range of $530 million to $580 million, below expectations compiled by Refinitiv.
The duo of negative reports weighed on rival game publisher Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), which fell 10% ahead of its quarterly report due Feb. 12.
That offset gains in the healthcare, led by a rise in Boston Scientific, which rose on better-than-expected quarterly results.
Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) reported earnings of 39 cents a share, above 's estimates of 36 cents a share. Revenue of $2.56 billion was in line with estimates. Its share rose 2.7%.
Energy stocks also weighed on the broader market, falling 0.8%, even as U.S. oil prices ended the day higher on data showing a smaller-than-expected build in crude supplies.
Elsewhere on the corporate earnings front, General Motors (NYSE:GM) rose 1.6% after it topped expectations. Snap's (NYSE:SNAP) better-than-expected results sent its shares up 22%, but Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) fell 1.1% as it warned a ramp up in investments would hurt its bottom line.
In geopolitics, with just under three weeks to go until the U.S.-China trade-war truce expires on March 1, senior White House officials continued to expressed optimism that a deal will be struck.
“We’re putting in an enormous amount of effort to hit this deadline and get a deal," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC.
Top S&P 500 Gainers and Losers Today:
Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ:SWKS), Capri Holdings (NYSE:CPRI) and Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) were among the top S&P 500 gainers for the session.
Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO), Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) and Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) were among the worst S&P 500 performers of the session.
