U.S. Stocks May Move Back To The Upside In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - After coming under pressure over the course of the previous session, stocks may move back to the upside in early trading on Wednesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.2 percent.

Stocks may benefit from continued optimism about the artificial intelligence trade, which has helped lead the markets to record highs.

A rebound by shares of Nvidia (NVDA) may generate some early buying interest, with the AI darling and market leader climbing by 0.4 percent in pre-market trading after tumbling by 2.8 percent on Tuesday.

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba (BABA) are also surging by 8.8 percent in pre-market trading after Chief Executive Officer Eddie Wu said the company plans to increase spending on AI models and infrastructure development.

The Chinese tech company also unveiled new AI products and updates at Alibaba Cloud's annual flagship technology conference.

On the other hand, shares of Micron (MU) are seeing modest pre-market weakness even though the chipmaker reported better than expected fiscal fourth quarter earnings and forecast first quarter revenue above market estimates on AI demand.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data on Friday.

Shortly after the start of trading the Commerce Department is due to release its report on new home sales in the month of August.

New home sales are expected to slip by 0.3 percent to an annual rate of 650,000 in August after falling by 0.6 percent to an annual rate of 652,000 in July.

Stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Tuesday, giving back ground after trending higher over the past few sessions. The major averages all moved to the downside, pulling back off Monday's record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way lower, slumping 215.50 points or 1.0 percent to 22,573.47. The S&P 500 slid 36.83 points or 0.6 percent to 6,656.92, while the narrower Dow dipped 88.76 points or 0.2 percent to 46,292.78.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.3 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.4 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index slid by 0.9 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.7 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.93 to $64.34 a barrel after jumping $1.13 to $63.41 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $3,799.20, down $16.50 compared to the previous session's close of $3,815.70. On Tuesday, gold surged $40.60.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 148.55 yen compared to the 147.64 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1745 compared to yesterday's $1.1815.