Last Updated: 4:01 PM EST
Stock indices finished today’s trading session in the red ahead of Nvidia (NVDA) earnings. The Nasdaq 100 (NDX), the S&P 500 (SPX), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 1.18%, 0.6%, and 0.39%, respectively.
On Wednesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association released its weekly report for the U.S. 30-Year mortgage rate. The mortgage rate decreased to 6.44% compared to last week’s reading of 6.5%.
Due to the decrease in rate, the number of mortgage applications increased week-over-week by 0.5%, following last week’s decline of 10.1%.
Nevertheless, mortgage application volume is up substantially on a year-over-year basis, with the Mortgage Market Index at 226.9 compared to 189 on August 30, 2023.
In addition, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its weekly Crude Oil Inventories report, which measures the weekly change in the number of barrels of commercial crude oil held by U.S. firms.
Compared to last week, inventories decreased by 0.846 million barrels. For reference, economists were expecting a decrease of 2.7 million barrels week-over-week. This means that demand was weaker than anticipated. As a result, WTI is down $1.89 to $75.53 per barrel.
First Published: 5:00 AM EST
U.S. futures were flat on Wednesday morning as investors eagerly awaited the fiscal Q2 results from Nvidia, one of the major beneficiaries of the AI race. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were up 0.01% at 4:24 a.m. EST, August 28, while the Nasdaq 100 (NDX) and the S&P 500 (SPX) were down by about 0.1% and 0.02%, respectively.
On Tuesday’s regular trading session, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices gained 0.16%. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones notched another record high and closed in positive territory for the second consecutive day. Importantly, the overall market movement remained relatively muted throughout the session.
In major after-market action, Nordstrom (JWN) stock gained about 8% after reporting better-than-expected Q2 earnings. Further, Ambarella (AMBA) stock surged 18.8% on strong Q2 results and an upbeat outlook. In contrast, the share of PVH (PVH) declined nearly 8% due to weak guidance.
Apart from NVDA’s results, traders expect the quarterly reports from Salesforce (CRM), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Li Auto (LI), Chewy (CHWY), Affirm (AFRM), and HP Inc. (HPQ).
Sam North, a market analyst at investment platform eToro, noted that expectations are high for Nvidia. He mentioned that the company must maintain its strong performance to meet investor expectations and justify its recent rally.
At the time of writing, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield was down, floating near 3.825%. At the same time, WTI crude oil futures trended lower, hovering near $75.36 per barrel as of the last check.
Elsewhere, European markets opened higher on Wednesday morning as investors focused on upcoming corporate earnings and economic news.
Asia-Pacific Markets End Mixed on Wednesday
Asia-Pacific indices ended today’s trading session on a mixed note as traders cautiously awaited NVDA’s results.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index declined 1.06%. Also, China’s Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component indices ended lower by 0.4% and 0.31%, respectively. However, Japan’s Nikkei and Topix indices finished higher by 0.22% and 0.42%, respectively.
Interested in more economic insights? Tune in to our LIVE webinar.
