What is there that artificial intelligence cannot do these days?On Tuesday, tech platform Altruist unveiled a tool designed to assist users with tax planning—an endeavor famously more complicated than quantum physics—accomplished in just "minutes. " Financial stocks faltered on these announcements, as investors worried AI tools might replace or at least diminish the value of established advisory firms and banks. LPL Financial dropped 8. 3%, Charles Schwab fell 7. 4%, and Morgan Stanley declined 2. 4%. Investor sentiment was further weighed down by disappointing U. S. economic data. Retail sales in December, adjusted for seasonal factors, were flat month-over-month, missing the 0. 4% rise economists surveyed by Dow Jones had predicted. These figures likely disappointed not only Wall Street but also consumers hoping for stronger holiday spending. The weak retail report also clouds the outlook for January’s nonfarm payrolls, due Wednesday morning in the U. S. , as robust job growth is critical to supporting consumer spending. In light of these developments, major U. S. indexes mostly declined.

The S&P 500 dropped 0. 33%, the Nasdaq Composite gave back 0. 59%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average managed a slight 0. 1% gain, hitting another closing record. "The market has shown a rotation into other areas that may be more insulated from that AI trade, " Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial, told CNBC. Across the Atlantic, Siemens Energy on Wednesday reported a 12. 8% year-over-year revenue increase in its fiscal first quarter, with net income rising sharply and beating expectations compiled by LSEG. CEO Christian Bruch appeared on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” to discuss the results further. Elsewhere, Dutch brewer Heineken announced plans to cut up to 6, 000 jobs due to weak beer sales. CEO Dolf van den Brink gave his final media interview on “Squawk Box Europe” before stepping down from his role. Meanwhile, according to the Financial Times, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is reportedly planning to announce election plans and a peace referendum later this month—a significant shift in the embattled nation’s goals amid Russia’s ongoing invasion. — Contributions to this report were made by CNBC’s Leonie Kidd and Michelle Fox. Alphabet is preparing another debt offering, reportedly close to finalizing a global bond issuance exceeding $30 billion, according to two sources familiar with the matter—following its recent $20 billion raise on Monday. xAI lost its second co-founder in as many days on Tuesday when researcher Jimmy Ba announced his departure from the Elon Musk–backed company, coming just one day after fellow co-founder Tony Wu exited xAI. China’s consumer inflation in January rose 0. 2% year-over-year, less than the 0. 4% increase forecast in a Reuters poll, while producer prices declined 1. 4%, a better-than-expected drop compared to projections of a 1. 5% fall. While the Dow hit another record close, other major U. S. indexes slipped Tuesday amid disappointing retail sales data and pressure on financial stocks. Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific markets rose Wednesday as investors appeared unfazed by AI-related concerns and China’s soft CPI figures. [PRO] Wells Fargo advised clients on Monday to "buy the dip" in gold, expecting the precious metal to stabilize. The bank also outlined its price targets for gold through the end of 2026.