Gold prices cool after rallying on Powell rate cut talk
Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures steadied on Sunday evening after Wall Street rallied sharply on dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which heralded interest rate cuts in the near-term.
Focus this week is squarely on earnings from artificial intelligence major NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), for more cues on the fast-growing industry.
Futures rose after Wall Street rallied on Friday, reversing a bulk of recent losses as investors ratcheted up bets that the Fed will cut interest rates in September.
But technology shares still remained fragile after a sharp selldown through most of last week, with caution ahead of Nvidia expected to keep the sector subdued.
S&P 500 Futures were flat at 6,483.25 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures were steady at 23,572.0 points by 19:17 ET (23:17 GMT). Dow Jones Futures hovered around 45,711.0 points.
Powell signals potential rate cut, Wall St rallies
Powell, speaking at the Jackson Hole Symposium on Friday, said the central bank could possibly cut rates in September amid increasing risks to the labor market.
But the Fed Chair warned that the decision was not set in stone, especially as risks from inflation remained. Fed policymakers have repeatedly cited uncertainty over the inflationary impact of President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
Still, Powell’s comments were relatively dovish when compared to recent signaling from the Fed, and saw markets ramp up bets on a September rate cut. Wall Street indexes also rose sharply following his comments, reversing most of last week’s losses.
The S&P 500 rose 1.5% to 6,466.91 points on Friday. The NASDAQ Composite rose 1.9% to 21,496, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.9% to a record-high 45,631.74 points.
Fed fund futures prices showed markets pricing in a 82.9% chance the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points in September, up from the prior day’s possibility of 73.1%, CME Fedwatch showed.
Nvidia awaited for more cues on AI
Focus this week is squarely on second-quarter earnings from AI major NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), which are due on Wednesday.
The company is widely regarded as a bellwether for AI demand, and is expected to mostly log another strong quarter.
But focus will be on the company’s China sales, which are likely to have fallen further amid brief U.S. export curbs and increased Chinese scrutiny towards AI chips. Nvidia was seen halting production of its China-specific H20 chip last week.
Nvidia’s earnings also come following an extended rout in tech shares, as investors questioned just how profitable the AI industry will remain in the coming quarters.
Outside Nvidia, Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:DELL), Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc (NYSE:DKS), Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY), Dollar General Corporation (NYSE:DG), and Abercrombie & Fitch Company (NYSE:ANF) are also set to report earnings this week.
Second-quarter gross domestic product data is also on tap this week, coming after preliminary data released in late-July showed strong growth.