US stocks retreated from record highs on Wednesday as concerns over US export restrictions on China and Donald Trump's comments on Taiwan weighed on the tech sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.1%, the S&P 500 fell nearly 1%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined over 1.6%. The Biden administration considers imposing stricter limits on companies providing advanced chip technology to China, leading to a significant drop in chipmaker stocks like ASML and Nvidia. Additionally, Trump's questioning of US defense support for Taiwan caused chipmaker TSMC's shares to plummet. Meanwhile, the BofA fund manager survey suggests that a potential election sweep in November could lead to higher bond yields, a stronger US dollar, and positive outcomes for US stocks. Overall, these factors contributed to the pullback in stock prices after recent record highs.