Stocks struggled for direction on Wednesday, trading on both sides of the aisle before settling mostly lower. Alphabet's (GOOGL) earnings miss, combined with Microsoft's (MSFT) sales warning, weighed heavily on the tech sector, culminating in steep losses for the tech-heavy Nasdaq. The S&P 500 settled sharply lower as well, joining the latter in snapping a three-day win streak. Meanwhile, the Dow finished just above breakeven despite being up 300 points at its session highs, but still extended its rally for a fourth consecutive session.  

The Dow Jones Average (DJI - 31,839.11) added 2.4 points or 0.01% for the day. Visa (V) led the gainers, adding 4.6%, while Boeing (BA) paced the laggards with an 8.8% loss.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,830.60) shed 28.5 points, or 0.7% for the day. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 10,970.99) fell 228.1 points or 2% for the session.

Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 27.28) fell 1.2 points or 4.2% for the session.

GOLD PRICES SETTLE AT ROUGHLY 2-WEEK HIGH

Oil prices settled higher on Wednesday, thanks to a weekly drop of 1.5 million barrels in U.S. gas supplies, as well as weakness in the U.S. dollar. November-dated crude added $2.59, or 3%, to finish at $87.91 per barrel.

A weaker U.S. dollar also helped gold finish higher while cooling Treasury yields also helped the yellow metal nab its best settlement in roughly two weeks. December-dated gold rose $11.20, or 0.7%, to close at $1,669.20 an ounce.

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