Looming Inflation Data May Lead To Choppy Trading On Wall Street

(RTTNews) - The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat for the markets on Thursday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction following the upward move seen over the two previous sessions.

Traders may stick to the sidelines as they digest highly anticipated earnings news from Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling and market leader slipping by 0.3 percent in pre-market trading.

The dip by Nvidia comes after the company reported second quarter results that largely exceeded expectations, but its data center sales came in short of estimates.

Investors are also looking ahead to Friday's release of the Commerce Department's on personal income and spending in the month of July, which includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on consumer price inflation.

The report, which is expected to show an uptick in the annual rate of core consumer price growth to 2.9 percent in July from 2.8 percent in June, could impact the outlook for interest rates.

CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating an 85.3 percent chance the Fed will lower rates by a quarter point at its next monetary policy meeting in September.

After ending Tuesday's choppy trading session mostly higher, stocks saw some further upside during trading on Wednesday. While buying interest was somewhat subdued, the S&P 500 managed to reach a new record closing high.

The major averages all posted modest gains on the day. The Dow rose 147.16 points or 0.3 percent to 45,565.23, the Nasdaq edged up 45.87 points or 0.2 percent at 21,590.14 and the S&P 500 crept up 15.46 points or 0.2 percent to 6,481.40.

The modest strength on Wall Street came as traders looked ahead to the release of highly anticipated earnings news from Nvidia. Shares of Nvidia dipped by 0.1 percent on the day.

However, traders seemed reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of Nvidia's results, with a lack of major U.S. economic data also keeping some traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of a closely watched report later in the week.

Energy stocks turned in a strong performance on the day amid a sharp increase by the price of crude oil, with the Philadelphia Oil Service Index jumping by 2.1 percent and the NYSE Arca Oil Index climbing by 1.7 percent.

Considerable strength was also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.3 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Software and telecom stocks also saw some strength on the day, while brokerage stocks moved to the downside.

Commodity, Currency Markets

Crude oil futures are slipping $0.11 to $64.04 a barrel after jumping $0.90 to $64.15 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after climbing $15.60 to $3,448.60 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are rising $10.10 to $3,458.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 146.91 yen versus the 147.42 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1680 compared to yesterday's $1.1639.

Asia

Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Thursday as Nvidia's strong results quelled worries over weakening AI demand.

However, regional gains remained capped due to Fed independence worries and reports suggesting that the Mexican government is set to raise tariffs on Chinese imports, including cars, textiles, and plastics, as part of its 2026 budget proposal.

Elsewhere, Japanese economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa cancelled his trip to the United States for tariff negotiations between the two countries at the last minute due to technical matters, the government said in a statement.

Chinese stocks rallied as Nvidia's Chinese competitors surged on optimism about localization efforts. Cambricon Technologies soared 15.7 percent and SMIC shares surged 11 percent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.1 percent to 3,843.60.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 0.8 percent to 24.998.82, extending losses for a third straight session as Meituan warned of losses due to competition with Alibaba. Meituan shares plunged 12.6 percent.

Japanese markets advanced after billionaire investor Warren Buffett increased his investments in the country. The Nikkei 225 Index recovered from losses to close 0.7 percent higher at 42,828.79, while the broader Topix Index closed up 0.7 percent at 3,089.78.

Mitsubishi Corp. gained 1.9 percent after a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said it had increased its stake in the trading house to 10.23 percent from 9.74 percent. Rival Mitsui & Co rose 1.2 percent.

Technology investor SoftBank rallied 3.2 percent and chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron added a little over 2 percent.

Seoul stocks ended slightly higher as the Bank of Korea held rates, as widely expected by economists, and lifted its 2025 growth forecast. The Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 3,196.32, with finance, defense and shipbuilding shares pacing the gainers.

Australian markets eked out modest gains as banks edged higher, offsetting losses in the energy and mining sectors. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index inched up 0.2 percent to 8,980, while the broader All Ordinaries Index settled 0.1 percent higher at 9,241.10.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 Index closed up 0.3 percent at 12,903.08.

Europe

After moving mostly higher early in the session, European stocks have turned mixed over the course of the trading day as traders digest Nvidia's results. The U.K. markets have underperformed as banks and utilities declined.

While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.4 percent, the German DAX Index is just below the unchanged line and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.3 percent.

Tech stocks such as Infineon and ASM International have moved to the upside, buoyed by Nvidia's optimistic forecast.

German electrolysis specialist Thyssenkrupp Nucera has also jumped after Australia's Progressive Green Solutions selected it as the preferred supplier of 1.4 GW electrolyzers for the Mid-West Green Iron project.

Automotive supplier Continental has also moved higher after announcing the sale of its ContiTech business area Original Equipment Solutions to Regent.

BMW, Volkswagen and Mercedes Benz have also risen after industry data showed new car sales in Europe rose 5.9 percent in July. Shares of French car maker Renault have also surged.

Spirits maker Pernod Ricard has also spiked after posting a smaller-than-expected 3 percent fall in annual organic revenue.

On the other hand, British energy services firm Hunting has moved notably lower as its first-half results came in below expectations.

U.S. Economic News

The U.S. economy grew by more than previously estimated in the second quarter of 2025, according to revised data released by the Commerce Department on Thursday.

The report said real gross domestic product shot up by 3.3 percent in the second quarter compared to the previously reported 3.0 percent surge. Economists had expected the jump in GDP to be upwardly revised to 3.1 percent.

The Commerce Department said the stronger than previously estimated growth primarily reflected upward revisions to investment and consumer spending.

The positive revisions were partly offset by a downward revision to government spending and an upward revision to imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP.

A separate report released by the Labor Department on Thursday showed a modest decrease by first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits in the week ended August 23rd.

The Labor Department said initial jobless claims dipped to 229,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level of 234,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 230,000 from the 235,000 originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the less volatile four-week moving average crept up to 228,500, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 226,000.

At 10 am ET, the National Association of Realtors is due to release its report on pending home sales in the month of July. Pending home sales are expected to edge down by 0.1 percent in July after falling by 0.8 percent in June.

The Treasury Department is scheduled to announce the results of this month's auction of $44 billion worth of seven-year notes at 1 pm ET.

At 6 pm ET, Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller is due to deliver a speech on the economic outlook before an Economic Club of Miami dinner.