Caterpillar and Boeing provoked fresh doubts about the sustainability of corporate earnings. FB reports earnings after the bell

Wall Street fell on Wednesday after disappointing quarterly results from bellwether Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) and Boeing (NYSE:BA), provoked fresh doubts about the sustainability of corporate earnings.

Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) fell 6% after its second-quarter results came in lower than expected, as the manufacturing bellwether reported lower demand in China that hit sales in its Asia-Pacific region.

Meanwhile, Boeing (NYSE:BA) declined 1.5% after reporting a record quarterly loss and failing to give guidance on when its grounded 737 MAX model would fly again. It also warned that there was "significant risk" to the delivery schedule of its new wide-bodied model, the 777X.

Technology stocks were rocky, after the U.S. Justice Department announced an antirust investigation into online social sites. While it did not name any companies, the wording of the review point to Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Facebook (NASDAQ:FB). Shares of all three were down almost 1%.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) reports earnings after the bell and was also under pressure from announced settlements with regulators for its privacy policies, which include $5 billion in fines.

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