Asian stocks were cautious on Wednesday as investors awaited results from artificial intelligence darling Nvidia, where the risk of disappointment is high, while the dollar gave back some of its recent gains.
The world’s most valuable company, Nvidia, will report its third quarter results after the bell. Shares are already up 4.9% overnight and options imply a sizable move of nearly 9% one way or the other for the $3.6 trillion stock, often seen as a barometer of the technology sector’s transition to AI.
Nasdaq futures rose 0.2% on Wednesday, after jumping 1% overnight. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat and Tokyo’s Nikkei slipped 0.3%.
Bitcoin held steady at $91,914, after surging above $94,000 for the first time overnight on expectations that US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will be supportive of the cryptocurrency.
In China, the central bank kept benchmark lending rates as expected. Chinese blue chip stocks fell 0.2%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged up 0.1%.
“NVDA was understandably the key topic on everyone’s mind. Overall, a good outcome seems widely expected tomorrow,” said Joshua Meyers, executive director at JPMorgan.
“Expectations for FY26 have become very enthusiastic, a concern that is coming up more and more often in conversations…Jensen’s comment on the conference call will be particularly important in leveling (or not leveling) expectations. ”
Investors were rattled last night by Ukraine’s use of US missiles to strike Russia, with the latter lowering the threshold for a possible nuclear strike, although those fears appear to have eased somewhat.
They are also watching Mr. Trump’s choice of Treasury secretary, who is in the process of assembling his government team. According to CNN, Mr. Trump could announce his decision as early as Wednesday.
Safe-haven currencies such as the Japanese yen and Swiss franc briefly rose, as did Treasury bills. Benchmark 10-year bond yields rose 1 bps to 4.3903%, after losing 4 bps, still some distance from a five-month high of 4.505%.
The yen held steady at 154.96 per dollar, after hitting a one-week high of 153.28 per dollar overnight. The U.S. dollar maintained its overnight losses at 106.19, far from its recent one-year high of 107.07.
Oil prices rose slightly on Wednesday, building on small gains overnight. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures rose 0.2% to $69.53 a barrel, after ending Tuesday up 0.3%.
Gold rose for the third time in a row, up 0.2% to $2,637.95 an ounce.
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