Wall Street fell modestly before the bell on Wednesday as markets digested corporate earnings while awaiting a major inflation update from the government on Friday.
S&P 500 futures were essentially flat, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.2%.
Chipmaker Nvidia rose after hours, recouping more of the losses suffered during a recent three-day period during which 13% of its value disappeared. Nvidia, whose chips are in high demand for artificial intelligence applications, rose 2% in the premarket period, following a 6.8% gain on Tuesday.
Rivian shares soared 37% on news that Volkswagen agreed to invest up to $5 billion in a new joint venture with the electric vehicle maker.
FedEx jumped 14.6% after beating Wall Street's sales and profit targets for the fourth quarter, driven by recent cost-cutting initiatives.
On Friday, the government reports the inflation gauge that the Federal Reserve most closely follows and is expected to influence the Fed's decision on when to start cutting interest rates in the coming months. The government report also includes the latest figures on consumer spending, the main driver of the US economy.
Generally speaking, sales at retailers across the country have been up and down recently, as companies highlight how lower-income customers are struggling to keep up with prices that continue to rise.
Investors hope the Federal Reserve will soon begin cutting interest rates, which it has kept at their highest level in more than 20 years, in hopes of slowing the economy enough to control inflation. The hope on Wall Street is that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at exactly the right time. If you wait too long, a slowing economy could lead to a recession. If it's too soon, inflation could accelerate again.
In Europe at midday, Germany's DAX and London's FTSE were down 0.2% each, while Paris' CAC 40 was down almost 0.8%.
In Asian trading, Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.3% to 39,667.07, boosted by strong demand for technology stocks driven by enthusiasm for Nvidia and artificial intelligence.
Tokyo Electron gained 3.6% and Advantest Corp. soared 7%. Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. added 1.5%.
Meanwhile, the dollar rose slightly against the Japanese yen, prompting warnings from senior officials in Tokyo about possible market intervention.
The dollar surpassed the 160 yen level, rising to 160.32 Japanese yen from 159.70 yen.
“Fundamentally, the yen remains weak, with no triggers for a reversal,” said Luca Santos, currency analyst at ACY Securities, in a commentary just before the dollar broke the 160 yen level.
"The threat of direct intervention looms if USD/JPY crosses the 160.00 (yen) threshold," he said, noting that Japanese officials had emphasized that the pace of the yen's decline, not just its level, could trigger an intervention.
The euro fell to $1.0695 from $1.0717.
Seoul's Kospi rose 0.6% to 2,792.05 points.
Chinese stocks rebounded after a weak opening. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.1% to 18,089.93 points and the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.8% to 2,972.53 points.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.7% to 7,783.00.
Shares rose 05.% in Taiwan and 0.7% in India. The Bangkok SET rose 0.1%.
In other trading early Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 47 cents to $81.30 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose 45 cents to $84.67 a barrel.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which does not include Nvidia, fell 0.8%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.3%.
