4:05pm: BlackBerry and Micron earnings on deck
The Nasdaq managed to stay in positive territory by the close on Wednesday while the Dow Jones finished the day modestly lower.
The tech-laden Nasdaq closed up 0.3% at 13,592 points, while the S&P 500 finished the day where it started at 4,377 points and the Dow Jones lost 0.2% at 33,854 points.
The small-cap Russell 2000 also finished the day higher, up 0.4% at 1,858 points.
After the closing bell, investor attention will turn to earnings with BlackBerry and Micron handing down their latest quarterly results.
12:05pm: Stocks struggle for direction on Powell`s hawkish comments
US stocks were mixed in noon trading after Federal Reserve Chair Powell said there’s a chance of rate hikes in consecutive meetings.
At midday, the Dow lost 77 points to 33,849, while the S&P 500 added 2 points at 4,381 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 62 points to 13,617.
“In bull markets, it pays to follow the momentum, and once more that momentum is best found in the Nasdaq,” IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said.
Notable movers included shares of General Mills Inc, fell 5% after the Betty Crocker and Cheerios brand owner beat Wall Street expectations on its 4Q adjusted earnings, but fell short on revenue.
9:40am: US could stop chip exports to China, per WSJ report
Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow was down 93 points, 0.3%, to 33,833, the Nasdaq Composite slid 37 points, 0.3%, to 13,519 and the S&P 500 declined 14 points, 0.3%, to 4,364.
Semiconductor stocks struggled following a Wall Street Journal report that the US Commerce Department could halt shipments of chips made by Nvidia and others to customers in China as early as July. Nvidia shares fell nearly 2% to $410.77.
Meanwhile, investors are watching for clues from Fed Chair Jerome Powell who is speaking before a policy panel at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal starting at 9:30 am ET.
7:45am: Powell to speak at ECB forum
US stocks are expected to start mixed again on Wednesday following strong gains in the previous session driven by a batch of stronger-than-expected data, with all eyes on a speech by the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell.
In pre-market trading, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) were around 0.1% higher, but those for the S&P 500 fell 0.1%. and contracts for the Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.4% as techs came under pressure from concerns about more curbs on AI chip exports.
On Tuesday, the DJIA posted its first positive session in seven, with the index closing 0.6% higher. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.2% and 1.7%, respectively, buoyed by a resurgence in tech stocks after last week’s sell-off.
With the six-month-end coming on Friday, investors are preparing to close out the best first-half performance by the Nasdaq in 40 years, with the composite index up 29%.
Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets commented: "Despite a buoyant session across Asian markets, Wall Street futures are looking at a somewhat subdued start to Wednesday’s session. The fact that yesterday yielded some significantly better than expected US economic data - including bumper consumer confidence readings – whilst indices still managed to advance may be taking a toll here.
"However, calls over likely direction of monetary policy will have to wait until the Fed chief, along with heads from the BoJ, ECB and BoE, have spoken at the Sintra conference which concludes today."
Fed chair Powell speaks Wednesday before a policy panel at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal, which begins at 9.30am ET.
Powell will be joined on the panel by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde and Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda.
Markets will be looking for more clues from Powell about the future of US economic policy. Recently, the Fed chair said he expects additional interest rate increases on the way to battle inflation, though he thinks the central bank can do so at “a more moderate pace.”
Scope's Mahoney added: "Economic data for the day is relatively limited but this evening the Fed will also release results of its annual stress tests on US banks. Bigger lenders are expected to fare well, although any surprises here could obviously inject a degree of volatility as we move towards the closing bell."