Dow Dips, Nasdaq Gains, Oil Prices Rise

U.S. index futures are mixed pre-market trading on Wednesday, driven by gains in Nvidia and optimism in the tech sector on Wall Street. U.S. Treasury yields are rising as investors analyze recent Fed statements and await important new economic data.

At 6:15 AM, Dow Jones futures (DOWI:DJI) fell 21 points, or 0.06%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.06%, and Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.18%. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds was 4.281%.

In the commodities market, West Texas Intermediate crude for August rose 0.85% to $81.52 per barrel. Brent crude for August rose 0.80%, nearing $85.69 per barrel. Iron ore traded on the Dalian exchange rose 3.38% to $113.67 per metric ton.

The U.S. economic indicator agenda for Wednesday starts at 8:30 AM with the release of the third reading of Q1 GDP by the Commerce Department. At 10:00 AM, also from the Commerce Department, May new home sales will be announced. Later, at 10:30 AM, the Department of Energy (DoE) will release the latest petroleum inventory data up to last Friday.

Asia-Pacific markets closed with mixed but mostly positive results. Gains were led by a notable advance in the semiconductor sector, influenced by Nvidia’s recovery in the U.S. market, boosting investor confidence in the region. In Australia, May inflation reached 4%, above expectations, increasing the likelihood of interest rate hikes by the RBA. In Singapore, industrial production grew 2.9%, surpassing expectations.

The Shanghai SE index in China closed up 0.76%, while Japan’s Nikkei saw a more significant increase of 1.26%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong had a modest increase of 0.09%, and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.64%. Conversely, Australia’s ASX 200 faced a more challenging day, falling 0.71%.

European markets are up today, recovering from the previous day’s losses, driven by improvements in global semiconductor stocks. With no significant new economic data, investors are focused on upcoming guidance from the European Central Bank (ECB). There are moderate expectations that the ECB may ease its monetary policy twice more this year, as suggested by board member Olli Rehn, who warned against excessively restricting economic activity. However, investment sentiment in Europe remains cautious due to the potential for far-right advances in the upcoming legislative elections in France, which is also negatively impacting the euro.

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Tuesday after a cautious session. The Dow Jones lost 299.05 points, or -0.76%, to 39,112.16. The Nasdaq rose 220.84 points, +1.26%, to 17,717.65, and the S&P 500 gained 21.43 points, or +0.39%, to 5,469.30. The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to +0.18 in May, and the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell to 100.4 in June.

Among individual stocks, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and others posted strong gains, while Boeing (NYSE:BA), Nike (NYSE:NKE), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS), and others fell sharply. Walmart (NYSE:WMT) ended down more than 2% after the company’s CFO signaled that the second quarter would be the “most challenging quarter.”

On the quarterly report front, General Mills (NYSE:GIS), PayChex (NASDAQ:PAYX), and UniFirst (NYSE:UNF) are reporting before the market opens.

After the close, numbers are expected from Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), BlackBerry (NYSE:BB), Levi Strauss (NYSE:LEVI), Culp (NYSE:CULP), Franklin Covey (NYSE:FC), Jefferies (NYSE:JEF), MillerKnoll (NASDAQ:MLKN), AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV), Concentrix (NASDAQ:CNXC), H.B. Fuller (NYSE:FUL).