US open: Stocks flat as investors await Nvidia earnings

Wall Street stocks were little changed early on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to earnings from chipmaker Nvidia after the close.

As of 1530 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.01% at 39,875.17, while the S&P 500 lost 0.01% to 5,321.04 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.06% firmer at 16,842.02.

The Dow opened just 2.18 points higher on Wednesday after recording some solid gains in the previous session.

Wednesday's primary focus will be quarterly earnings from Nvidia after the close of trading, with the tech giant expected to report another strong performance, with consensus estimates expecting earnings and revenue to have risen 400% and 240% year-on-year, respectively.

Elsewhere in the corporate space, retailer Target missed expectations with its latest set of earnings, while Urban Outfitters beat on both the top and bottom line with its quarterly numbers and homebuilder Toll Brothers surpassed analysts' estimates with its fiscal performance and raised full-year delivery guidance.

On the macro front, mortgage applications jumped 1.9% week-on-week in the seven days ended 17 May, adding to the 0.5% increase in the prior week and marking the third weekly growth in mortgage demand, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America. The increase comes alongside a drop in average mortgage rates that saw financing costs hit a seven-week low. Applications to refinance a mortgage, jumped by 7%, offsetting a 1% drop in mortgage applications to purchase a home.

On another note, existing home sales declined 1.9% month-on-month in April to a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 4.14m, the lowest reading in three months and short of expectations for a print of 4.21m. "Home sales changed little overall, but the upper-end market is experiencing a sizable gain due to more supply coming onto the market," said National Association of Realtors' chief economist Lawrence Yun.

Still to come, minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's latest two-day policy meeting will be out at 1900.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $152.97 1.14%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $286.50 0.97%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $47.38 0.94%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $432.14 0.72%
Visa Inc. (V) $277.58 0.59%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $39.84 0.57%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $103.57 0.54%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $65.50 0.54%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $131.38 0.47%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $217.08 0.38%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $57.51 -2.37%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $157.34 -1.64%
3M Co. (MMM) $101.87 -1.23%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $356.14 -0.82%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $466.91 -0.74%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $333.70 -0.73%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $313.67 -0.37%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $92.71 -0.12%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $265.57 -0.11%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $31.70 -0.11%

S&P 500 - Risers

TJX Companies Inc. (TJX) $104.62 7.08%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $230.72 6.50%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $134.37 4.28%
Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) $230.86 2.74%
Lincoln National Corp. (LNC) $31.39 2.35%
Ametek Inc. (AME) $173.05 2.32%
Dxc Technology Company (DXC) $16.25 2.14%
Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS) $149.38 2.06%
Broadridge Fin Sol (BR) $204.09 2.06%
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $23.31 1.75%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Target Corp. (TGT) $144.04 -7.54%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $50.94 -6.22%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $25.38 -4.57%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) $18.37 -3.87%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $36.36 -3.37%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $114.01 -3.30%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $157.58 -3.15%
Newmont Corporation (NEM) $42.76 -2.90%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $25.54 -2.85%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $20.92 -2.68%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $230.72 6.50%
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) $134.37 4.28%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.71 1.85%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $97.35 1.64%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $78.98 1.62%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $202.16 1.58%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $109.30 1.57%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $470.97 1.36%
PACCAR Inc. (PCAR) $106.99 1.31%
CSX Corp. (CSX) $33.49 1.29%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $181.51 -2.73%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $17.06 -2.54%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $62.50 -2.50%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $54.51 -2.36%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $16.67 -2.00%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $223.32 -1.92%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $61.35 -1.80%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $103.37 -1.68%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $270.52 -1.67%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $95.17 -1.48%