US stock futures tread water; Nvidia anticipation puts Nasdaq at record high

U.S. stock index futures moved little in evening deals on Monday as momentum on Wall Street stalled after buying into technology stocks, ahead of earnings from market darling Nvidia, put the Nasdaq at record highs.

Uncertainty over interest rates also remained in play as warnings on sticky inflation from Federal Reserve officials continued to trickle in, with focus on the minutes of the central bank’s late-April meeting due this Wednesday.

S&P 500 Futures steadied at 5,331.0 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 0.1% to 18,748.50 points by 19:20 ET (23:20 GMT). Dow Jones Futures fell 0.1% to 39,923.0 points.

Tech strengthens ahead of Nvidia earnings
Market darling NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is set to report quarterly earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday, with focus squarely on whether the firm can meet market expectations for an exponential jump in earnings.

The company is seen as a bellwether for the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry, and its earnings are likely to set the tone for the broader technology sector.

Nvidia is at the heart of a massive spike in market valuations over the past year, amid increasing hype over the rapidly-growing AI industry.

Tech stocks saw sustained buying ahead of Nvidia’s earnings, which also helped push the NASDAQ Composite to a record high close on Monday. The index vastly outperformed its Wall Street peers.

Nvidia rose 2.5% and was close to a record high. Its peers Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) rose 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively, with all three stocks seeing some gains in aftermarket trade.

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Tech heavyweights including Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) advanced between 0.4 and 1.3%.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 5,308.13 points, while the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.7% to a record high of 16,794.87 points on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lagged, falling 0.5% to 39,806.77 points.

More Fed cues awaited amid rate uncertainty
Markets still remained on edge ahead of more cues from the Fed this week, specifically the minutes of its last meeting and addresses by several officials.

While mildly softer consumer inflation readings for April sparked a rally on Wall Street, a slew of Fed officials warned that the bank still needed much more confidence that inflation was coming down, before it could begin cutting interest rates.

Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin and New York Fed President John Williams are set to speak later on Tuesday. Both officials are members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee.

The central bank is expected to potentially begin trimming rates by September, although this will also largely depend on the path of inflation.