Gold prices sank further on Wednesday while major stock markets mostly fell following some disappointing corporate earnings amid lingering worries over trade tensions.

Major US indices fell, with the Dow retreating from a record the prior day, as lacklustre results from Netflix added to angst that upcoming reports from other tech giants may also fall short.

"Any time you've got stocks that are priced with high expectations, if you're not meeting those expectations, then the market is going to struggle with that," said Dave Grecsek, a partner at wealth management firm Aspirant.

More broadly, the market is wondering if "we are overextended here in this artificial intelligence trade," he added.

Further earnings reports from US tech giants and other blue chips in the coming days, including from Tesla, were also keeping investors wary as they gauged the business outlook and the impacts of US President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Late on Wednesday, Tesla reported a 37 percent drop in profits to US$1.4 billion, in results that missed analyst forecasts. The company cited a drag from tariffs and other expenses.

Gold was once again a major focus after plunging six percent on Tuesday, a sell-off from record highs that rattled investor confidence in what is traditionally a safe-haven asset.

Traders are "desperately trying to gauge whether... (Tuesday's) historical collapse was indicative of a new period of weakness or simply a case of blowing off steam after a dramatic surge into record highs", said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

Gold fell a further 1.4 percent to around US$4,060 an ounce on Wednesday after chalking up a record peak above US$4,381 on Monday.

The retreat hit the share prices of gold miners, while individual companies were impacted by earnings updates.

On the upside, Barclays and UniCredit posted positive results, easing fears of a new banking crisis emerging in the United States.

Among individual companies, Netflix slumped more than 10 percent after the streaming giant reported earnings that missed estimates.

Netflix executives told financial analysts on an earnings call that absent the hefty cost in Brazil due to a tax dispute, it would have exceeded its operating margin forecast in the quarter.

The Dow Jones fell 0.7 percent, to 46,590, the S&P 500 slipped 0.5 percent, to 6,699, and the Nasdaq lost 0.9 percent, to 22,740. (AFP)