US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, as traders looked ahead to earnings results from US chipmaking giant Nvidia after the closing bell.

The Dow Jones finished the day down 0.4 percent at 41,091, and the S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent to 5,592.

The Nasdaq closed down more than 1.1 percent at 17,556.

"Over the past couple of weeks, Nvidia has been rising, with the anticipation being that the company is going to do better than expectations," said Ventura Wealth Management's Tom Cahill.

"I think the bar is so high that it's not hard to imagine them saying growth is going to slow even just a little bit," he added.

"That would be very negative for the stock and therefore technology stocks in the market. There's a little apprehension."

Nvidia's share price closed down 2.1 percent ahead of its earnings results.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding company briefly crossed US$1 trillion in market value before paring some gains. (AFP)