Stock futures rise ahead of Nvidia earnings; Dow Jones and S&P 500 look to end 4-session slides

Stock futures rose on Wednesday, with investors focusing on AI darling Nvidia’s highly anticipated quarterly results after the closing bell.

Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq, the S&P 500, and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%, 0.3%, and 0.1%, respectively. Yesterday, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones fell for the fourth straight session, and the Nasdaq closed lower for the second straight day, as concerns about valuations related to artificial intelligence persist.

Market participants are also awaiting tomorrow’s September jobs report, which was delayed due to the 43-day US government shutdown. The report was originally scheduled to be released on October 3, two days after the lockdown began.

Today, investors’ eyes are on Nvidia (NVDA), the world’s most valuable company, whose quarterly earnings report after the bell could have wide-ranging implications for AI trading and the broader stock market. Shares are down nearly 5% this week and are down more than 12% from their closing high on Oct. 29, but were up 0.7% in premarket trading.

Microsoft (MSFT), whose shares fell 2.7% yesterday after announcing strategic partnerships with Nvidia and Claude AI developer Anthropic, and which has also been under pressure due to a ratings downgrade by Rothschild, rose before the bell. Amazon (AMZN) stock rose 0.7% after falling 4.4% on Tuesday due to a rating downgrade by Rothschild.

Shares of Lowe’s ( LOW ) rose 5% after reporting a third-quarter earnings beat and raising its full-year sales forecast, a day after rival Home Depot ( HD ) fell 6% as the home improvement retailer reported disappointing earnings and lowered its full-year forecast.

Target (TGT) stock fell less than 1% after its total sales and comparable store sales came in below analyst estimates, and it cut its full-year earnings estimate. TJ Maxx parent TJX (TJX) was also scheduled to report earnings before the bell. Walmart (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, is scheduled to report its results early Thursday.

Bitcoin was trading at around $91,400, down from an intraday high of around $93,400. The largest cryptocurrency fell below $90,000 earlier on Wednesday for the second day in a row.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was little changed from Tuesday’s close of about 4.12%. The US dollar index, which measures the dollar’s performance against a basket of foreign currencies, rose slightly to 99.68.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures, the US oil benchmark, fell 2% to $59.55 a barrel. Gold futures rose more than 1% to $4,115 an ounce.