Stock Market News Today: Markets flat as investors await Nvidia results (SP500)

U.S. stocks on Wednesday were little changed, as market participants eagerly awaited chip giant Nvidia’s (NVDA) quarterly results which will act as a barometer of the artificial intelligence (AI) craze.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) and the benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) hovered near their record highs in mid-day trade, with the former up 0.07% to 16,843.66 points and the latter down 0.03% to 5,319.66 points. The blue-chip Dow (DJI) was lower by 0.11% to 39,830.37 points.

Of the 11 S&P sectors, eight were in the red.

It has been a year since Nvidia (NVDA) began delivering a string of blowout quarterly earnings, driven primarily by massive demand for its AI chips. In that time, the chipmaker has surged to a market cap north of $2T, making it a market-moving behemoth.

“The earnings report that will be heard around the world after the close,” Matthew Miskin, co-chief investment strategist at John Hancock Investment Management, declared on X (formerly Twitter).

“Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, Nvidia (NVDA) has gapped up at least 5% following four of its last five reports, traded down from the open to close three times, but finished up at least 10% three times,” Bespoke Investment Group noted on X, underscoring how much of an impact the stock has had on Wall Street recently.

See what Seeking Alpha analysts have to say about Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings.

Earlier, results from retailers were in focus. Department store operator Target’s (TGT) report pointed to a pullback in discretionary spending amid concerns over inflation, sending its shares down nearly 8%.

Consumer inflation data out of the United Kingdom grabbed some of the spotlight in the morning. The consumer price index (CPI) for April moderated on an annual basis, but still came in higher than expectations, which in turn pushed out Bank of England rate cut discussions.

At home, Federal Reserve speakers have been “vague” in their remarks about monetary policy recently, according to Citi, in order to keep their options open for multiple scenarios. Investors will receive minutes from the Fed’s last monetary policy meeting later in the day.

U.S. Treasury yields were mixed on Wednesday. The longer-end 30-year yield (US30Y) was flat at 4.55%, while the 10-year yield (US10Y) was up 1 basis point to 4.43%. The shorter-end more rate-sensitive 2-year yield (US2Y) was up 4 basis points to 4.87%.

See live data on how Treasury yields are doing across the curve at the Seeking Alpha bond page.

The economic calendar was fairly busy. U.S. existing home sales unexpectedly slipped in April, while home prices reached a record high. At the same time, the Atlanta Fed’s gauge of business inflation expectations was unchanged for May.