US equity indexes traded mixed in choppy midday trading Wednesday as investors weighed an unexpected deceleration in services with disappointing big-tech results overnight and uncertainty over the timing of trade talks with China.

The Nasdaq Composite was 0.1% lower at 19,638.3. The S&P 500 added 0.2% to 6,046.9, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.4% to 44,711.4. Consumer discretionary and communication services were the laggards intraday, while real estate and technology led the top gainers.

Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) shares slumped 7.3% intraday after the company reported late Tuesday Q4 revenue that trailed analysts' estimates. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) sank 8% after the chipmaker overnight reported weaker-than-expected data center sales for Q4 and guided to a sequential decline in Q1 revenue. Shares of the duo were among the worst performers on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

The Institute for Supply Management's US services index fell to 52.8 in January from 54 in December, compared with expectations for no change in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. The index indicates slower expansion, which is in line with the Richmond Fed, Dallas Fed, and the S&P Global indexes but in contrast with the New York Fed, Kansas City, and Philadelphia Fed measures that signaled contraction.

The Prices Paid index, reflecting inflation in the services data, fell to 60.4 from 64.4 in December, the highest since February 2023, according to a Jefferies note.

"This [Prices] index has been in the process of gradually slowing from above 80 during H2 2021 and H1 2022, to the low-70s in H2 2022, and then the mid-50s from the beginning of 2023," Jefferies US economist Thomas Simons said. "Since the beginning of 2024, the index has shown strong resistance in falling to the low-50s or below."

US Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year down 9.9 basis points to 4.41% and the two-year 4.2 basis points lower at 4.17%.

Gold futures traded 0.6% higher at $2,893.01 an ounce after touching a new record high of 2,906.00 earlier in the session.

The gains come as the Trump Administration negotiates punitive trade tariffs on its partners. President Donald Trump this week imposed a 10% additional tariff on imports from China and postponed for 30 days planned blanket duties on imports from Canada and Mexico, the largest US trading partners. He also threatened to place tariffs on imports from the European Union.

"Precious metals' ongoing rally has taken gold to a record ... amid worries that global tariffs will impede growth, raise debt levels, and increase inflation while boosting demand for safe-haven assets," Saxo Bank said in a note.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures dropped 1.9% to $71.31 a barrel.

US commercial crude oil stocks, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 8.7 million barrels in the week ended Jan. 31 after a 3.5-million-barrel gain in the previous week, larger than the 1.9-million-barrel increase expected in a survey by Bloomberg.