Nvidia results ahead, Wall Street drifts; ASX set to inch up

US stocks are drifting on Wednesday, a day after leaping back within a few good days’ worth of gains from their all-time high.

The S&P 500 was down 0.2 per cent in afternoon trading after flipping from an early, modest gain. It’s still within 4 per cent of its record after charging higher amid hopes that the worst of the turmoil caused by President Donald Trump’s trade war may have passed. It had been roughly 20 per cent below the mark last month.

The Dow Jones was down 136 points, or 0.3 per cent, in mid-afternoon trade, and the Nasdaq composite was mostly unchanged. The Australian sharemarket is set to inch up, with futures at 4.53am AEST pointing to a rise of 7 points, or 0.1 per cent, at the open. The ASX lost 0.1 per cent on Wednesday after the latest inflation figures came in higher than expected.

The next big test for Wall Street will come after trading ends for the day, when market heavyweight Nvidia will report its latest results. Expectations are high for the bellwether of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology. So are worries that its stock price may have run too high, even after it has largely stalled this year.

Nvidia edged up by 1.1 per cent.

Macy’s swung between gains and losses through the morning after reporting milder drops in revenue and profit than analysts expected for the latest quarter. The retailer also maintained its forecast for revenue this year, but it cut its profit forecast in part because of tariffs and some moderation of spending by consumers.

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Its stock was most recently up 0.8 per cent.

Several other retailers also delivered better-than-expected results for the latest quarter in the morning. Abercrombie & Fitch soared 15.3 per cent after its profit and revenue both topped analysts’ expectations. CEO Fran Horowitz credited broad-based growth across its business around the world, and strength for its Hollister brand offset weakness for its Abercrombie brand.