Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Set to Open Up; Nvidia, Tesla, Palantir, Intel, More Movers; Israel, Middle East Conflict; Apple iPhone Event

Markets will also be keeping a close eye on tensions in the Middle East after Israel and Hezbollah exchanged strikes over the weekend. Oil prices spiked in the aftermath amid fears for supply if conflict spreads to the wider Mideast.

U.S. stocks were rising after a string rally in the previous session ahead of chip maker Nvidia’s quarterly earnings, which are seen as a potential make-or-break moment for the artificial intelligence trading craze.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 24 points, or 0.1%, after the index set a new record closing high on Monday. S&P 500 futures were also up 0.1%, while contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.2%.

AI, geopolitics, and the Federal Reserve are the three top-of-mind issues for the market right now.

Nvidia’s earnings, set to be published after Wednesday’s closing bell, will give investors a sense of how AI demand is holding up just under two years since the launch of ChatGPT, the trailblazing chatbot and virtual assistant developed by OpenAI.

They will also be keeping a close eye on tensions in the Middle East and looking out for further signals from the Federal Reserve, after Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech all but confirmed the central bank will start cutting interest rates at its next meeting in September.

“It’s a somewhat lighter calendar as we round out August, but there are a few noteworthy events to keep an eye on. In particular, we’ve got Nvidia’s earnings coming out after the US close tomorrow, which has become one of the most important events on the macro calendar over recent quarters,” a Deutsche Bank team led by macro strategist Henry Allen wrote in a research note, flagging that in February a stellar earnings report from the semiconductor giant had powered the S&P 500 2.1% higher in the space of a single trading session.

Oil prices ticked lower, having racked up big gains on Monday. The Brent benchmark fell 0.1% to just over $80 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 0.2% to about $77 a barrel.

Bond yields ticked up slightly over the past 24 hours. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes were at 3.828%, and yields on the 2-year note were 3.950%.

Gold futures slipped 0.4% to $2,544.2 a troy ounce, but remained close to a record high of $2,570.4 an ounce, hit on Aug. 20.

The U.S. dollar is now tracking around its lowest level since July, 2023 on rate cut optimism, a boon for gold which typically has a negative relationship with the greenback, Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar said.

This correlation did temporarily break down earlier this year as the precious metal rallied despite a stronger dollar on central bank, retail and safe-haven demand, but gold’s ability to find support in a falling and rising U.S. dollar environment fuels the belief that gold futures have price risks skewed to the upside, Dhar said in a note.