U.S. Stocks May See Early Strength As Nvidia Jumps

The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Wednesday, with stocks likely to add to the modest gains posted in the previous session.

Nvidia (NVDA) may help lead the markets higher, as the artificial intelligence chipmaker is jumping by 1.9 percent in pre-market trading.

The advance by Nvidia comes after the company announced a multi-year, multi-generational strategic partnership with Facebook parent Meta (META) spanning on-premises, cloud and AI infrastructure.

The company said the partnership will enable the large-scale deployment of Nvidia CPUs and millions of Nvidia Blackwell and Rubin GPUs.

Fellow “Magnificent Seven” member Amazon (AMZN) is also likely to see early strength following news Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square increased its stake in the online retail giant by 65 percent during the fourth quarter.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to this afternoon’s release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting.

The minutes of the Fed’s late January meeting, when the central bank decided to leave interest rates unchanged, may shed additional light on the outlook for rates.

After recovering from an early move to the downside, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance over the course of the trading session on Tuesday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing modestly higher.

The Dow inched up 32.26 points or 0.1 percent to 49,533.19, the Nasdaq edged up 31.71 points or 0.1 percent to 22,578.38 and the S&P 500 crept up 7.05 points or 0.1 percent to 6,843.22.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of release of key economic data in the coming days.

A report on personal income and spending in the month of December is likely to attract attention, as it includes the Federal Reserve’s preferred readings on inflation.

Earlier in the day, the major averages moved notably amid weakness among technology stocks, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropping to its lowest intraday level in almost three months.

Concerns about potential disruptions caused by the artificial intelligence buildout have recently weighed on tech stocks, which had helped lead the markets to record highs.

“Investors are increasingly questioning whether the marginal dollar spent on AI will generate the expected return,” said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com. “At the same time, market uncertainty is rising as new AI models frequently disrupt established players.”

“With competitive dynamics evolving rapidly, it is unclear who the long-term winners will be,” she added. “This uncertainty has led to underperformance across much of big tech, even as the broader market remains relatively resilient.”

On the U.S. economic front, the National Association of Home Builders released a report showing homebuilder confidence has unexpectedly seen a modest deterioration in the month of February.

The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index edged down to 36 in February after slipping to 37 in January. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 38.

With the unexpected dip, the housing market index dropped to its lowest level since hitting 32 last September.

Despite the recovery by the broader markets, computer hardware stocks continued to see substantial weakness on the day, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index tumbling by 3.2 percent.

Gold stocks also moved sharply lower along with the price of the precious metal, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 3.2 percent.

Housing, software and energy stocks also saw notable weakness, while airline stocks moved sharply higher, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 2.5 percent.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are surging $1.59 to $63.92 a barrel after sliding $0.56 to $62.33 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $4,980.10, up $74.20 compared to the previous session’s close of $4,905.90. On Tuesday, gold plunged $140.40.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 153.79 yen compared to the 153.28 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1831 compared to yesterday’s $1.1853.

Asia

Asian stocks rose in thin holiday trading on Wednesday as U.S.-Iran nuclear talks showed progress, Japan clocked a smaller-than-expected trade deficit in January, and Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Anna Breman reinforced the central bank’s “accommodative for some time” stance after holding interest rates at the lowest level in 3-1/2 years.

Regional trading volumes were light, with markets in China, Hong Kong and South Korea closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

The U.S. dollar was broadly higher in Asian trading ahead of the release of key U.S. economic data as well as the minutes from the Fed’s January meeting.

Gold rose over 1 percent to trade above $4,900 an ounce after having fallen more than 2 percent to hit a one-week low in the previous session.

Oil edged up slightly after falling about 2 percent to a two-week low in the previous session on signs of easing geopolitical tensions.

Japanese markets advanced after separate reports showed Japan’s exports surged in January and business confidence improved in February, offering cautious relief for policymakers seeking to stabilize a stuttering economy.

In trade-related news, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the first $36 billion tranche of Japan’s $550 billion U.S. investment pledge tied to a tariff deal.

In a statement late Tuesday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Japan would invest $36 billion in three projects: a natural gas plant in Ohio, a crude oil export facility along the U.S. Gulf Coast and a synthetic diamond manufacturing site in Georgia.

The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1 percent to 57,143.84, while the broader Topix Index closed up 1.2 percent at 3,807.25.

Australian markets closed higher for a third consecutive session after National Bank of Australia delivered robust first quarter results, supported by solid performance in both business and home lending.

Shares of the country’s third-largest lender surged 4 percent to a record high, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 percent to 9,007. The broader All Ordinaries Index settled 0.6 percent higher at 9,238.70.

Technology stocks also rallied, while falling bullion prices on easing geopolitical tensions weighed on gold stocks.

BlueScope Steel added 2.6 percent after SGH Ltd and U.S.-based Steel Dynamics sweetened their A$15 billion takeover bid for the company.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index jumped 1.7 percent to 13,247.02, snapping a three-day losing streak after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand left rates unchanged and indicated that normalization would be gradual.

Europe

European stocks have moved mostly higher on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions ease and investors react to reports of a leadership change at the European Central Bank.

A Financial Times report said Christine Lagarde plans to leave the European Central Bank before her eight-year term as president expires in October 2027.

The British pound traded below $1.36 after data showed U.K consumer price inflation eased to a ten-month low in January, reinforcing expectations that the Bank of England may cut interest rates as soon as March.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the consumer price index posted an annual increase of 3.0 percent, in line with expectations.

This was the lowest inflation since March 2025, when it stood at 2.6 percent. This followed December’s 3.4 percent increase.

Elsewhere, French consumer price inflation slowed to 0.4 percent year-on-year in January, matching the preliminary reading published earlier.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 1.0 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.8 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent.

BAE Systems, Britain’s biggest defense contractor, has surged after reporting a better-than-expected 12 percent rise in full-year operating profit and raising shareholder payouts.

Commodity trader Glencore has also moved sharply higher despite reporting lower full-year earnings.

Swiss dental implant maker Straumann Holding has also spiked after it beat fourth quarter sales expectations and forecast 2026 sales growth in the high single-digit percentage range.

Meanwhile, Europe’s largest food retailer Carrefour has slumped after reporting a decline in operating profit in 2025 due to acquisition costs.

U.S. Economic News

New orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods pulled back by less than expected in the month of December, according to a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said durable goods orders slumped by 1.4 percent in December after spiking by an upwardly revised 5.4 percent in November.

Economists had expected durable goods orders to tumble by 2.3 percent compared to the 5.3 percent surge that had been reported for the previous month.

Excluding a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders increased by 0.9 percent in December after climbing by 0.4 percent in November. Ex-transportation orders were expected to rise by 0.3 percent.

A separate report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed a sharp increase in new residential construction in the U.S. in the month of December.

The Commerce Department said housing starts surged by 6.2 percent to an annual rate of 1.404 million in December after jumping by 3.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.322 million in November. Economists had expected housing starts to come in at an annual rate of 1.33 million.

The report also said building permits shot up by 4.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.448 million in December after slumping by 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.388 million in November.

Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to come in at an annual rate of 1.400 million.

At 9:15 am ET, the Federal Reserve is due to release its report on industrial production in the month of January. Industrial production is expected to climb by 0.4 percent in January, matching the increase seen in December.

The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month’s auction of $16 billion worth of twenty-year bonds at 1 pm ET.

At 2 pm ET, the Federal Reserve is due to release the minutes of its late January monetary policy meeting, when the central bank decided to leave interest rates unchanged.