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At 11:03 ET (15:03 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 113 points or 0.3%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.8% and the NASDAQ Composite was up 1.3%.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and the broad-based S&P 500 gave up some of their recent gains Tuesday, closing 0.5% and 0.3% lower respectively.
This followed weakness in a number of retail stocks, including Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS), which fell 24% in its worst daily performance ever after slashing its full-year earnings guidance, and Macy’s (NYSE:M), which dropped 14% as net sales fell 8% in the second quarter on an annual basis.
Other retailers report today, including department store operator Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS), which beat expectations and reaffirmed its full-year guidance.
The earnings highlight, however, is likely to come after the closing bell, as the world’s most valuable chip designer, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), releases its latest quarterly numbers.
The California-based company, which manufactures the graphics processors that power generative artificial intelligence, has been at the center of global euphoria around the development of the nascent technology.
Its shares have tripled this year, propelling the stock’s market capitalization to above $1 trillion, and its outlook for the rest of the year could influence the near-term course of not only the AI boom but broader market sentiment.
Recent data, including hotter-than-expected retail sales and increasing consumer confidence, has pointed to resilience in the U.S. economy despite the series of interest rate hikes to combat inflation.
This prompted Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin to warn that the U.S. central bank must be ready to address a reacceleration in the country’s economy ahead of the Fed’s annual symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, starting at the end of the week.
The news out of Europe was less impressive Wednesday after the flash readings of monthly surveys suggested a second month in a row of eurozone, and U.K., business contraction.
Oil prices weakened Wednesday as the weak PMI readings in Europe reminded traders that demand will likely be affected in the second half of the year from this large group of consumers.
On a more positive note, U.S. crude inventories dropped by about 2.4 million barrels last week, according to data from industry body American Petroleum Institute, with the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. energy department, set to confirm this draw later Wednesday.
(Peter Nurse and Oliver Gray contributed to this item.)
