Investing.com-- The Dow cut losses to close higher Wednesday, sidestepping a slump in Target and caution in tech ahead of Nvidia's quarterly earnings.
At 4.00 p.m. ET (2100 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 139 points, or 0.3%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.01%, and the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.1%.
Nvidia earnings in spotlight
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) is set to release its quarterly earnings after the close, and the results from most valuable listed company in the world will be carefully studied as it is considered as a bellwether for artificial intelligence demand.
These numbers could well become a gauge for investors’ appetite for tech stocks and sentiment for equities broadly, given its chips are widely seen as the gold standard in the AI-space, and demand for all things to do with artificial intelligence has driven much of this year’s stock market gains.
Ahead of the Nvidia earnings, sentiment on big tech was cautious, with Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) leading to the downside.
Technology stocks were mostly upbeat in anticipation of a strong quarterly print from the firm, which has nearly tripled in value this year on an AI-fueled boom.
Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX), however, sidestepped the weakness after announcing that the last week's boxing bout between YouTube star Jake Paul and former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson racked up 108 million global viewers, becoming the most-streamed global sporting ever.
Target disappoints on earnings stage; Delta reiterates outlook
Target (NYSE:TGT) stock slumped more than 21% after the retailer reported third-quarter earnings that fell well short of analyst expectations and provided disappointing guidance for the full year.
The earnings missed triggered a selloff across retailers, with Dollar Tree Inc (NASDAQ:DLTR), Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD) and Five Below Inc (NASDAQ:FIVE) in the red.
Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) stock lost more than 1% after it said it expects 2025 revenue to grow by a mid-single-digit percentage.
Ford (NYSE:F) stock fell 3% after the auto giant said it would cut around 14% of its European workforce, blaming significant losses in recent years compounded by weak demand for electric vehicles, a lack of government support for the shift to EVs, and rising competition.
Fed speakers in focus
The slew of Fed speak continued to this week, with investors keen for clues on whether Fed members would continue to express caution on further rate cuts ahead.
Federal Reserve Governors Lisa Cook said that future rate cuts would be depend on incoming economic data.
Michelle Bowman Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman backed a cautious approach to rate cuts amid expectations that the neutral level or end point for rates may be higher than previously expected at time when progress against inflation has stalled in recent months.
Investors continue to bet that interest rates will fall in the near-term, with traders pricing in a 60.6% chance for a 25 basis point cut by the Federal Reserve in December, CME Fedwatch showed.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)