Ahead of tomorrow's Nvidia earnings fireworks, it's another quiet session with most asset classes close to unchanged and US equity futures flat in a muted overnight session. As of 8:00am, S&P futures were unchanged after trading in a narrow range, and erasing modest earlier gains, while Nasdaq futures rose 0.1% with tech leading as NVDA/TSLA edge higher after lagging the Mag7 yesterday. Bond yields continued to rise amid a steeper curve, pushing the 10Y 3bps higher to 3.85%, while the USD is weaker and commodities are lower ex-base metals and natgas. Today’s macro data focus is on Consumer Confidence, Housing Price updates, and regional activity indicators. There is a 2Y bond auction.
In premarket trading, Paramount Global fell after Seagram's heir Edgar Bronfman Jr. dropped out the acquisition contest for the CBS parent, with producer David Ellison’s Skydance Media set to become the new owner. Nvidia shares erased earlier gains and were last trading flat. Here are other notable premarket movers:
Slowly but surely, all eyes now turn to Nvidia, and arguably the most important earnings release of the quarter; the company has the second-biggest weighting in the S&P 500 after Apple but has far greater importance on the broader "AI narrative", and its nosebleed valuation mean that it’s susceptible to big swings that could reverberate widely. As noted yesterday, pricing in the options market shows that traders see the potential for an almost 10% move in either direction after earnings, which would translate to roughly 160 points in the Nasdaq 100 Index, or a 0.8% move.
Nvidia’s “numbers will be good but what matters is the guidance in order to understand if the demand is still healthy,” said Alberto Tocchio, a portfolio manager at Kairos Partners. “If we get bad news, the rotation will be ever stronger as the market is still very heavy on the mega-cap.”
Investors will also hope the bull market will broaden out of big tech after fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled Friday the central bank will cut rates soon. Other policy makers echoed his dovish tone: Fed Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said it’s appropriate to begin cutting rates, while her Richmond counterpart Thomas Barkin said he still saw upside risks for inflation, though he supported “dialing down” policy. Economists see the core PCE index rising 0.2% in July for a second month. That would pull the three-month annualized rate of core inflation down to 2.1%, just above the central bank’s 2% goal.
“Of course, the central bank will emphasize that it has not yet made a decision and wrap that in the words ‘data dependent’,” said Volkmar Baur, a strategist at Commerzbank AG. “But 95 percent of what it needs to know for its September meeting should already be available.”
Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.2% to their highest since mid-July amid low trading volumes, with declines for retailers offsetting gains for carmakers and miners. Major European markets are mostly higher with Italy/Spain leading and only SCXP in the red. Trading volumes were low, with activity on most European benchmarks about three-quarters of the average level from the past 30 days. Associated British Foods declined as Deutsche Bank cut its rating on the stock to sell from hold. Ryanair led gains in European airline and travel stocks after CEO Michael O’Leary said a softening in fares experienced between April and June has levelled out. Bunzl Plc shares soared after the distribution group raised its full-year profit guidance. Here are some of the other biggest movers on Tuesday:
Earlier in the session, Asian stocks fell, dragged down by major technology shares ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report on Wednesday, with disappointing results from Chinese e-commerce firm PDD also weighing on sentiment. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped as much as 0.5% before paring some of the losses, with Alibaba and TSMC among the biggest drags. Shares fell in mainland China, Taiwan and South Korea. A gauge of Chinese tech names slid after PDD’s warning of slowing sales. Chip stocks followed US peers lower on renewed concerns over the sustainability of artificial intelligence demand ahead of Nvidia’s results and repositioning ahead of expected Federal Reserve rate cuts. The recent tech selloff had begun to ease, putting the Asian benchmark back on track for a fourth-straight monthly gain.
“Asian markets should benefit from the recent weakness in the US dollar,” said Gary Dugan, chief executive officer of the Global CIO Office. “A cut in interest rates should allow Asian countries to follow their own timely plans on rate cuts as their currencies will be under less pressure.”
In FX, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index is little changed; the pound is the best performer among the G-10 currencies, extending gains by 0.4% against the greenback to its highest since March 2022 as options show traders see upside risks for sterling into the September central bank meetings. The Japanese yen is the weakest, falling 0.2% to around 144.8 per dollar.
In rates, gilts led a selloff in European government bonds while Treasuries also fall. US 10-year yields rise 4bps to 3.85% as US trading day begins, trailing bigger declines in most European bond markets, as focus shifts to supply, pushing the 10Y yield 3bps higher to 3.85%. August’s last three Treasury coupon auctions begin with $69b 2-year note sale at 1pm New York time, and corporate bond supply historically has been heavy in early September. Yields are higher by 2bp-3bp with the curve steeper, 2s10s and 5s30s each by ~1bp; volume and liquidity “remain in summer mode,” Citi rates strategist Edward Acton says in a note. In Europe,
In commodities, oil prices decline, paring some of Monday’s rally, with WTI down to ~$76.70 a barrel. Spot gold falls $6 to around $2,511/oz.
Looking at today's calendar, the US economic data calendar includes June FHFA house price index and S&P CoreLogic home price indexes (9am), August Conference Board consumer confidence gauges and Richmond Fed manufacturing index (10am) and August Dallas Fed services activity (10:30am)
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APAC stocks traded mostly lower following a mixed lead from Wall Street, which saw the tech sector lag ahead of NVIDIA earnings on Wednesday. News flow in APAC hours was quiet and catalysts light, with the overall tone of the market tentative. ASX 200 saw its early modest gains fade with the index trading flat throughout most of the APAC session, although BHP shares were lifted some 2% following earnings. Nikkei 225 opened in the red but gradually edged higher in tandem with the weakness in the JPY, with the index confined to a tight intraday range. Hang Seng and Shanghai Comp were both subdued for the entirety of the session, with the mainland overlooking an improvement in Industrial Profits, whilst Hong Kong saw its hefty losses in Alibaba and JD.com after Temu-owner PDD tumbled 28.5% after cautioning that its revenue growth will slow as competition continues to increase.
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European bourses, Stoxx 600 (+0.4%) are modestly firmer across the board, with indices slowly edging higher as the session progressed. European sectors are mostly firmer; Basic Resources takes the top spot, benefiting from underlying strength in metals prices and after BHP earnings overnight. Retail is found near the foot of the pile. US Equity Futures (ES +0.1%, NQ +0.2%, RTY +0.2%) are modestly firmer across the board, continuing the optimism seen in early European trade. The docket for the remainder of the day is fairly thin, with focus on the Richmond Fed Index and Fed Discount Rate Minutes.
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