Stock futures climbed Wednesday as investors awaited quarterly results from chip giant Nvidia. Traders also tried to regain their footing following a mixed session Tuesday. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 142 points, or 0.5%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.6% and 0.8% respectively. Nvidia is slated to report second-quarter earnings after the bell. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expect the company to report sharp year-over-year spikes in profit and revenue for the second quarter. Nvidia is the best-performing S&P 500 stock of 2023, up more than 200%, as investors cheer the company’s AI-related prospects. Investors will look to the report for signs on whether the market can resume this year’s move higher, or if the August downturn will be prolonged. The S&P 500 is down more than 4% this month. On Wednesday, shares rose more than 1%. Wall Street is coming off a mixed session, with the Dow and S&P 500 falling, while the Nasdaq Composite eked out a small gain. Weakness in retail and bank stocks weighed on the market Tuesday. Dick’s Sporting Goods fell 24% in its worst daily performance ever after coming up short of Wall Street expectations and pulling back its full-year earnings guidance. Macy’s fell 14% after reiterating its conservative outlook, while Lowe’s climbed more than 3% after exceeding the consensus estimate of analysts for earnings and reaffirming full-year expectations. Beyond the earnings slated for Wednesday, investors will also be watching for economic data on new home sales and purchasing. They’ll also be readying for the start of a two-day Federal Reserve symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, beginning Thursday. Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to deliver remarks Friday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was down more than 6 basis points at 4.263%, a welcome reprieve after hitting a 16-year high on Tuesday, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond also fell more than 5 basis points to 4.355%. Yields move inversely to prices. At the shorter end of the curve, yields were marginally higher. Asia-Pacific markets are mixed on Wednesday as investors assess private business activity surveys from Australia and Japan, as well as inflation figures from Singapore. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.38%, reversing earlier losses to close at 7,148.4 for its third straight day of gains. Australia’s business activity contracted at the fastest pace in 19 months, according to Juno Bank, with its flash composite purchasing managers index coming in at 47.1 for August. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was also in positive territory as it climbed 0.48% and closed at 32,010.26, while the Topix gained 0.5% to close at 2,277.05. Both indexes also saw three-day winning streaks. The country saw a faster expansion in its business activity, with its flash PMI for August at 54.3 compared to July’s 53.8. However, South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.41% to end at 2,505.5, while the Kosdaq closed 1.17% down at 882.87. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.37% in its final hour, while mainland Chinese markets were in negative territory, with the benchmark CSI 300 index plunging 1.64% and closing at 3,696.63. Singapore’s Straits Times Index inched up 0.29% after the country’s core inflation climbed 3.8% in July from a year ago, in line with expectations in a Reuters poll. Oil prices eased in early trade on Wednesday, weighed down by fears U.S. interest rates could stay higher for longer and economic growth could slow further in top crude importer China and hurt fuel demand. Brent crude dipped 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $83.86 a barrel by 0031 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $79.56 a barrel, down 8 cents, or 0.1%. Both benchmarks lost about 0.5% on Tuesday. Gold prices gained on Wednesday after a slight pullback in U.S. dollar and Treasury yields underpinned bullion above a key $1,900 level as investors await clues from major central bankers on the interest rate trajectory. Spot gold firmed 0.3% to $1,902.63 per ounce by 0519 GMT, drifting further away from the five-month lows hit last week. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,931.70.
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