U.S. Stocks May Lack Direction Ahead Of Nvidia Earnings

Following the rally seen in the previous session, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by just 0.1 percent.Traders may be reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of earnings news from AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA).Nvidia, which is scheduled to release its fiscal first quarter results after the close of today's trading, is up by 0.8 percent in pre-market trading.Lingering uncertainty about President Donald Trump's trade policies may also keep some traders on the sidelines following recent volatility.Trump's threat to impose 50 percent tariffs on imports from the European Union triggered a steep drop by stocks last Friday only for his decision to delay the proposed tariffs to spark the rally on Tuesday.Traders are also looking ahead to this afternoon's release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, which may shed light on the outlook for interest rates.After moving sharply higher early in the session, stocks saw further upside over the course of the trading day on Tuesday. With the strong upward move, the major averages largely offset the steep losses posted last week.The Nasdaq shot up 461.96 points or 2.5 percent to 19,199.16, the S&P 500 surged 118.72 points or 2.1 percent to 5,921.54 and the Dow jumped 740.58 points or 1.8 percent to 42,343.65.In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index and China's Shanghai Composite Index closed just below the unchanged line, while South Korea's Kospi surged by 1.3 percent.Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.5 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent.In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.71 to $61.60 a barrel after falling $0.64 to $60.89 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $3,306.50, up $6.10 compared to the previous session's close of $3,300.40. On Tuesday, gold tumbled $65.40.On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 144.38 yen compared to the 144.33 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1314 compared to yesterday's $1.1328. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.comBusiness News