Stock futures experienced an uptick early Wednesday after a previous session marked by losses, primarily driven by Nvidia and unexpectedly high inflation data that exerted pressure on the broader market. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average exhibited a largely stable performance. S&P 500 futures increased by 0.79%, whereas Nasdaq-100 futures rose by 1.68%. The Dow experienced a decline of over 150 points during regular U.S. trading, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite decreasing by 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively. At the core of the downturn was Nvidia. The chipmaker experienced a decline of 5.5%, as CEO Jensen Huang’s involvement with an alleged Chinese spy continued to impact the stock for the second consecutive session.
Nvidia’s two-day decline has resulted in a market capitalisation of approximately $4.07 trillion, marking its lowest level since late March. Equities experienced a decline on Tuesday following the release of the latest U.S. inflation data, which reinforced expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in December. The consumer price index rose by 0.4% month over month in October, exceeding expectations. Expectations for a quarter-point rate increase next month have surged to approximately 90% following the recent release, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool. “Despite some technical uncertainty, higher than desired levels of inflation should keep the Fed in a stance of dissatisfaction with the degree of progress on inflation remaining lackluster, so hiking the Fed Funds policy rate in December is our and the market’s base case,” wrote Rick Rieder.
“The question now is more of one of the extent of the hike.” Comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller prompted traders to adjust their expectations, pricing in an increased likelihood of a quarter-point move. On Wednesday, traders will focus on the developments within the artificial intelligence sector, following CoreWeave’s announcement of third-quarter revenue that surpassed analyst forecasts. The report initially caused a slight increase in the neocloud stock. CoreWeave’s results contributed to a 2.6% increase in South Korea’s Kospi index by the close, with SK Hynix experiencing a rise of 5.36% and Samsung Electronics gaining 3.57%. Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 exhibited an increase of 0.85% on Wednesday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 experienced an increase of 0.23%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index experienced a decline of 0.66%, whereas the CSI 300 saw a decrease of 0.39%. Meanwhile, European technology companies experienced an upward movement. Infineon advanced by 6.3%, ASMI increased by 5.5%, ST Microelectronics experienced a gain of 4%, and ASML rose approximately 3%. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was observed to be 0.29% higher, while Germany’s DAX experienced an increase of 0.73%. The French CAC 40 experienced an increase of 0.39%, while the U.K. FTSE 100 saw a rise of 0.27%. The U.S. bond market will observe a closure on Wednesday in recognition of Veterans Day.
