S&P 500 futures were marginally higher Wednesday as investors waited for Nvidia’s quarterly earnings announcement. Futures tied to the broad market index traded just below the flatline, along with Nasdaq-100 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures. Wall Street is keeping an eye on Nvidia to gauge the broader sustainability of the broader tech and AI trade. The semiconductor giant — slated to report after the close — has surged 159% in 2024, raising questions of how much more room there is for the stock to run. Focal points for investors include the delivery schedule for Nvidia’s Blackwell chips and an update on the demand for AI. “It’s hard to say that there’s not a lot of optimism priced into the market tomorrow,” Erin Browne, Pimco managing director and portfolio manager, told CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Tuesday. Browne noted that other AI stocks are trading around 10% below their all-time highs. Nvidia’s current valuation is not expensive relative to the five-year average, she added. “So while certainly there’s a lot of optimism priced in, I think that they still can deliver upside and surprise the market to the upside,” Browne said. Nordstrom advanced 7% after the retailer posted adjusted earnings in the second quarter that surpassed expectations. Semiconductor developer Ambarella jumped nearly 20% on upbeat revenue guidance in the third quarter. PVH, owner of Calvin Klein, slumped more than 7% on a disappointing outlook for the current quarter. Elsewhere, a regulatory filing showed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold shares of Bank of America once again. The conglomerate dumped more than 24 million shares for $981.9 million in earlier sessions. Wall Street is coming off a mixed session, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rising nearly 0.2% each. The 30-stock Dow, meanwhile, added just 0.02%. The U.S. 10-year Treasury dipped on Wednesday as investors awaited a key U.S. inflation report due later in the week. The yield on the 10-year Treasury slipped nearly 1 basis point to 3.825%, while the yield on the 2-year Treasury was unchanged at 3.865%. Asia-Pacific markets were mixed, as investors assessed Australia’s July inflation numbers, which came in higher than expected. Australia’s CPI rose 3.5% year on year, slightly above the 3.4% expected by economists polled by Reuters and compared to 3.8% in June. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200, which hovered near the flatline after the CPI release, closed at 8,071.4. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 1.05% lower as of its final hour of trade, while mainland China’s CSI 300 lost 0.57% to hit a near seven-month low of 3,286.5. Japan’s Nikkei 225 reversed losses to gain 0.22%, ending at 38,371.76, while the broad-based Topix rose 0.42% to close at 2,692.12. South Korea’s Kospi ended flat at 2,689.83, while the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.32% to 762.5, marking a sixth straight day of losses. U.S. crude oil fell nearly 2% Wednesday to trade around $74 per barrel, as the market continues to shed gains made earlier in the week on the threat of supply disruptions in Libya. “Oil prices remain range-bound, despite the potential of a large disruption in Libyan supplies and elevated tensions in the Middle East,” Amarpreet Singh, energy analyst at Barclay’s, told clients Tuesday. Singh said this is due to lackluster demand in China, risks of a broader economic slowdown, and few signs that OPEC+ will back off plans to increase production in the fourth quarter. U.S. crude oil settled more than 2% lower on Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate October contract: $74.16 per barrel, down $1.38, or 1.83%. Year to date, U.S. oil has gained 3.5%. Brent October contract: $78.26 per barrel, down $1.29, or 1.62%. Year to date, the global benchmark is ahead 1.6%. Gold prices fell on Wednesday under pressure from a stronger dollar and uncertainty ahead of a key U.S. inflation report that could provide more clarity about the Federal Reserve’s September policy meeting. Spot gold was down 0.6% at $2,510.39 an ounce but held above the psychologically key level of $2,500, having climbed to a record high of $2,531.60 on Aug. 20. The U.S. currency steadied on Wednesday, making dollar-priced commodities less attractive for buyers using other currencies. Recent declines in the dollar had pushed the currency to its weakest in more than a year.