U.S. Stocks May Turn In Mixed Performance In Early Trading

(RTTNews) - Following the weakness seen in the previous session, stocks may move in opposite directions in early trading on Wednesday.

The major index futures are currently pointing to a mixed open for the markets, with the Nasdaq futures up by 0.3 percent but the S&P 500 futures down by 0.1 percent and the Dow futures down by 0.5 percent.

The Nasdaq may benefit from strength among tech stocks, as Nvidia (NVDA) may help lead an early advance by semiconductor stocks.

Shares of Nvidia are jumping by 1.6 percent in pre-market trading after CEO Jensen Huang was a last-minute addition to President Donald Trump's trip to China to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

However, buying interest outside of the tech sector is likely to be subdued following the release of a Labor Department report showing producer prices in the U.S. shot up by much more than expected in the month of April.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand jumped by 1.4 percent in April after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in March.

Economists had expected producer prices to rise by 0.5 percent, matching the increase originally reported for the previous month.

The report also said the annual rate of growth by consumer prices spiked to 6.0 percent in April from 4.3 percent in March, coming in well above economist estimates for a 4.9 percent surge.

After moving sharply lower in morning trading on Tuesday, stocks regained ground over the course of the session. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the Dow reaching positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq staged a notable recovery attempt after tumbling by as much as 2 percent but still ended the day down 185.92 points or 0.7 percent at 26,088.20.

The S&P 500 also slipped 11.88 points or 0.2 percent to 7,400.96, while the narrower Dow inched up 56.09 points or 0.1 percent to 49,760.56.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday. South Korea's Kospi surged by 2.6 percent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.8 percent.

The major European markets have also turned mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.4 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just above the unchanged line and the German DAX Index is up by 0.6 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are inching up $0.03 to $102.21 a barrel after soaring $4.11 to $102.18 a barrel on Tuesday. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold is trading at $4,695, up $8.30 compared to the previous session's close of $4,686.70. On Tuesday, gold slumped $42.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 157.84 yen compared to the 157.61 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Tuesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.1704 compared to yesterday's $1.1737.