Stock futures are little changed as traders await key inflation report, Nvidia earnings: Live updates

A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Aug. 24, 2026.

Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters

Stock futures were near flat on Tuesday night ahead of the release of key U.S. inflation data along with Nvidia’s latest quarterly results.

S&P 500 futures were little changed, while Nasdaq-100 futures rose nearly 0.1%.

The major averages are coming off a winning session, boosted by falling yields and lower oil prices. The S&P 500 gained 0.3% in regular trading, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.7%. The Dow climbed 160.24 points, or 0.3%, its third consecutive positive day.

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5%. South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.12%%, while Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 0.34% higher.

July’s personal consumption expenditures price index, a monthly report detailing changes in prices of goods and services and the Federal Reserve’s preferred metric of inflation, is set to be released on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a month-over-month increase of 0.1% and a year-over-year increase of 3.6%. In June, the report noted a decrease of 0.1% on a monthly basis and a 3.7% increase in an annual basis.

The report comes with the bond market in focus. U.S. Treasury yields hit multiyear highs last week, with the 30-year bond rate reaching levels not seen in nearly 20 years. However, yields fell broadly on Tuesday, with the 10-year yield losing almost 8 basis points on the day.

Nvidia, Jackson Hole ahead

Nvidia is set to report its earnings for the second quarter on Wednesday after the bell. Wall Street projects earnings per share of $2.09 on $92.28 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

The report could be a bellwether for the broader market, given the chipmaker is the largest S&P 500 member, with a market cap of more than $5 trillion.

Investors are also eyeing Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s speech on Friday at the Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Though, some have noted Warsh could remain tight-lipped ahead of the Fed’s monetary policy decision ahead of September.

“Given his approach to the June and July press conferences, we think it is unlikely that he would move straight to a deep dive into the current economic outlook and its implications for policy over the balance of 2026. Instead, we expect him to spend the bulk of his remarks on big-picture themes with an emphasis on the supply side and on how these topics will be addressed by the Task Forces,” Piper Sandler’s head of central bank policy Kurt Lewis wrote to clients.

Asia-Pacific markets start trading day mixed

Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed on Wednesday.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.5%, while the Topix opened flat.

South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.12%%, but the small-cap Kosdaq advanced 0.16%.

Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 0.34% higher.

— Lee Ying Shan

Asia-Pacific markets set for mixed open as U.S.-Canada trade tensions escalate

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed Wednesday as escalating U.S.-Canada trade tensions added to investor caution ahead of a key U.S. inflation report.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was poised to rise, with the Chicago and Osaka futures contract at 65,970, compared with the index’s previous close of 65,856.43.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 25,648, compared with the index’s last close of 25,511.1.

Futures for Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 last traded at 9,143 while the index closed at 9,164.6.

Canada on Tuesday announced retaliatory tariffs against the United States, matching “dollar for dollar” the 50% duties that President Donald Trump imposed over the weekend after a breakdown in trade talks.

Ottawa’s new tariffs encompass more than 700 U.S. goods and are worth about $20 billion, mirroring the size of Trump’s latest import taxes on Canadian wine, cement, hockey sticks and more.

— Lee Ying Shan

Falling oil prices are bullish for equities, according to Nancy Tengler

Lower oil prices could give stocks another lift.

“Oil is the next big inflation buster, and so I think this would be very optimistic for equities as we go into the fall and the pre-midterm period,” Nancy Tengler, Laffer Tengler CEO, told CNBC’s “The Exchange.”

“We saw the impact when oil prices receded in the previous month. We saw what it did to inflation, and we had a negative print, and then we had a flat print,” she said.

Tengler also remains upbeat on the broader backdrop. She said the economy is strong.

“We’re seeing the manufacturing numbers continue to deliver. I think this is a pretty robust period to be focused on stocks,” she said.

— Deena Zaidi

Bitcoin isn’t oversold but not overbought yet, says Katie Stockton

Bitcoin‘s rally could have more room to run after clearing a key technical level, according to Fairlead Strategies managing partner, Katie Stockton.

Bitcoin has climbed more than 25% since Stockton turned bullish on the cryptocurrency on Aug. 17, when it was trading around $64,000.

Speaking with CNBC’s “The Exchange,” Stockton said bitcoin is not oversold but not overbought yet.

“We have obviously very strong short-term momentum and improved intermediate-term momentum now off of these lows,” she said. “Now we all know that bases are often prolonged.”

Stockton said bitcoin now appears to be breaking out of a basing period that began in June.

“And now we have what looks to be a base breakout underway. The 200-day moving average was cleared,” she said. The immediate follow through confirmed the breakout, adding conviction that bitcoin is in long-term basing phase and June-July marked the bottom.

She is, however, less bullish on gold’s recent rally.

“We’re looking for more upside from gold, but we suspect that it will meet resistance, and that maybe it won’t be quite as long-lived as what we expect from bitcoin,” she said. “We have a longer-term oversold reading from bitcoin, and it was a more prolonged down cycle. So we think that it’s had more time to enter that basing phase.”

— Deena Zaidi

Shares for Zoom fall on disappointing guidance

Silas Stein | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

Zoom Communications fell 4% in extended trading after its third-quarter guidance fell short of analyst expectations.

For third quarter, the company expects its earnings per share to range from $1.46 to $1.48, short of FactSet’s expectation of $1.50 a share. Similarly, the company’s revenue guidance for the third quarter is at $1.275 billion to $1.28 billion, while analysts sought $1.28 billion.

— Ananya Chetia