Investing.com - The Australian Stock Exchange is expected to open on a lower note on Thursday, with NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) surging 7.4% after-hours as the company reported quarterly results.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 managed to close with a minor 0.1% gain, reversing their earlier losses in the last half-hour of trading. The NASDAQ Composite, however, reduced its initial losses to close 0.3% down after an early 1% drop.
There were advances in aluminum and nickel due to speculations that a new round of U.S. sanctions against Russia might target metals and disrupt supplies. Aluminum futures saw an initial 3.4% rise, while nickel climbed more than 3.5%.
HSBC Holdings (LON:HSBA) HSBA) PLC ADR (NYSE:HSBC) experienced a 6.6% slump, its biggest in almost four years, after reporting an 80% drop in Q4 profits due to unexpected charges. Commodities giant Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) also reported a significant drop in earnings, leading to a 1.2% fall in its shares. These two companies were among the most significant decliners on the UK benchmark, which closed 0.8% lower.
After the closing bell on Wednesday, Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX:RIO) reported a 12% fall in underlying profit due to weaker commodity prices and rising costs. Meanwhile, French building materials giant Saint-Gobain made a $4.3 billion bid for CSR.
The minutes from the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting reaffirmed that while rates most likely have peaked, there’s no rush to pivot to cuts. This cautious stance has led to a drop in the probability of a quarter-point rate cut in May from 50% a month ago to about 30%.