Futures Pointing To Roughly Flat Open On Wall Street

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Wednesday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction following the rally seen in the previous session.

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.

The rally on Wall Street came after President Donald Trump announced he is delaying a threatened 50 percent tariff on imports from the European Union.

“I received a call today from Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, requesting an extension on the June 1st deadline on the 50% Tariff with respect to Trade and the European Union,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday.

“I agreed to the extension — July 9, 2025 — It was my privilege to do so,” he added. “The Commission President said that talks will begin rapidly.”

Trump said in a subsequent Truth Social post this morning that the EU has “called to quickly establish meeting dates,” which he described as a “positive event.”

“I hope that they will, FINALLY, like my same demand to China, open up the European Nations for Trade with the United States of America,” he said. “They will BOTH be very happy, and successful, if they do!!!”

The move by Trump came as analysts previously suggested the threatened tariff on the EU was just a negotiating tactic and not where the eventual rate will wind up.

Positive sentiment was also generated in reaction to a report released by the Conference Board showing a substantial improvement by U.S. consumer confidence in the month of May.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index spiked to 98.0 in May after plunging to a downwardly revised 85.7 in April.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to inch up to 87.3 from the 86.0 originally reported for the previous month.

Airline stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 4.9 percent.

Substantial strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 3.4 percent spike by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Networking, computer hardware and banking stocks also saw considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Commodity, Currency Markets

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.

Asia

Asian stocks ended on a cautious note Wednesday despite a strong rally on Wall Street overnight driven by improved U.S. consumer confidence data and a global bond surge.

As trade tensions ease, investors awaited cues from Nvidia’s earnings and the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s May meeting.

The dollar held gains and gold ticked higher to trade above $3,310 per ounce ahead of a key U.S. inflation reading due this week.

Oil inched up on Venezuelan supply risks and ahead of on OPEC+ meeting, expected to decide on increasing output.

China’s Shanghai Composite Index finished marginally lower at 3,339.93 after a large explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dipped 0.5 percent to 23,258.31 despite Xiaomi Corp. reporting better-than-expected revenue in the March quarter.

Japanese shares ended little changed and the yen wobbled in volatile trading as a weak government bond auction sparked a sell-off in the country’s bond market. Tech stocks ended mostly higher ahead of Nvidia’s earnings, with Advantest rising 1.6 percent.

Nippon Steel Corp. fell 1.5 percent. The company is considering handing a “golden share” to the U.S. government as a way to proceed with its acquisition of U.S. Steel, the Nikkei reported.

Seoul stocks ended sharply higher, led by technology stocks. The Kospi jumped 1.3 percent to 2,670.15 as global trade tensions eased and a survey showed business sentiment in the country improved to a 10-month high in May. Samsung Electronics soared 3.7 percent and SK Hynix surged 2.7 percent.

Australian markets ended slightly lower after the release of stronger-than-expected inflation data for April. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index edged down 0.1 percent to 8,396.90, dragged down by banks and miners. The broader All Ordinaries Index ended little changed at 8,624.90.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s S&P/NZX-50 Index tumbled 1.8 percent to 12,362.26, hitting its lowest level in over three weeks as the country’s central bank cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points and flagged a slightly deeper easing cycle than previously forecast, highlighting concerns about the growth outlook.

Europe

European stocks have moved modestly lower on Wednesday, with focus on ongoing trade talks and upcoming bond sales in Germany and Spain.

The German DAX is down by 0.5 percent after having reached a new record high the previous day on news the German government will ramp up public investment to 110 billion euros ($125 billion) this year to revive a sluggish economy.

France’s CAC 40 Index has edged down by 0.2 percent as GDP figures showed slight growth in the first quarter, matching expectations. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent.

French cognac Remy Cointreau fell 2 percent after naming Franck Marilly as its new CEO.

Nokia gained about 1 percent as it launched a new 25G PON high-density line card designed to deliver mass market, multi-gig, residential broadband services.

Airbus gained 2 percent after Port Moresby-based Papua New Guinea flag carrier Air Niugini signed a firm order with the company for two more latest generation A220-100 regional aircraft.

Rentokil Initial rose more than 1 percent as it agreed to sell its French workwear division to H.I.G. Capital for gross proceeds of €410 million.

Home improvement retailer Kingfisher tumbled 3 percent despite reporting higher Q1 sales and reaffirming guidance.

U.S. Economic News

The Treasury Department is due to announce the results of this month’s auction of $70 billion worth of five-year notes at 1 pm ET.

At 2 pm ET, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting.