Wall St set for subdued open ahead of Nvidia results, Fed minutes
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Wall St set for subdued open ahead of Nvidia results, Fed minutes
(Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set for a lackluster open on Wednesday as investors kept to the sidelines ahead of AI chip leader Nvidia's quarterly results and the Federal Reserve's policy meeting minutes later in the day.
All eyes will be on whether semiconductor bellwether Nvidia's (NVDA.O), opens new tab first-quarter results, due after market close, can meet sky-high expectations and sustain bumper gains recorded by the company's shares and other AI-related stocks.
Nvidia has emerged as the third-largest U.S. company by market value following a more than 92% surge in its shares this year and an over threefold jump in 2023.
"The market is looking for a new catalyst, and maybe that will be Nvidia. We've come off of a very strong earnings season, but at current levels, you could be subject to some sort of a pullback on any disappointment," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.
The company's shares were up 0.1% in premarket trading, after rising more than 3% over the past two days.
Nvidia's results will test the strength of Wall Street's recent bullish run that has carried all three major indexes to record highs this month, driven by a strong earnings season as well as renewed hopes for interest-rate cuts and a so-called soft landing for the US economy.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq (.IXIC), opens new tab and the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab closed at fresh record highs on Tuesday.
US stocks ended with slight gains on Tuesday - but enough to once again push the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record closing highs.
Market participants are also keenly awaiting minutes from the US central bank's latest policy meeting, due at 2 p.m. ET, for more clarity on the timing of a rate cut. Several policymakers have reiterated the need to wait for more signs of easing inflation before cutting rates.
"The Fed's data-dependent over the next two months or so but I do see a little bit of a shift in terms of perhaps members warming up to a rate cut possibly in the fourth quarter or the very latter part of the third quarter," Cardillo said.
