Wall Street closed lower, with all three indexes dragged down by industrials, healthcare and financials, while chip stocks fell more than 2%. (EPA Images pic)NEW YORK: World stocks edged lower on Tuesday as concerns about AI spending weighed on chipmakers and investors looked ahead to more US corporate earnings for clues on whether big technology firms can justify their heavy capital spending.

Brent crude futures also fell as traders assessed developments in the Middle East conflict.

Investors have ridden the AI wave in the past four years as massive spending powered corporate profits and economic growth, but more recently, worries over concentration risks and whether a payoff will come soon enough have weighed.