SINGAPORE- Global stocks were poised near record highs on Wednesday, with the next move riding on results at chipmaking market darling Nvidia, while sterling hovered near a 2-1/2-year high as traders bet that Britain will lag the US in cutting interest rates.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.2 percent . Japan’s Nikkei was flat.
Oil retraced a recent spike on Middle East tensions as gloom on Chinese demand returned to the fore and Brent crude futures traded just below $80 a barrel.
Nvidia’s market value has ballooned thanks to its dominance of the computing hardware behind artificial intelligence. The stock price is up some 3000 percent since 2019 and with a market capitalization of $3.2 trillion, a move in its shares affects the entire market.
Second-quarter revenue will likely have doubled, though even that may disappoint expectations. Options pricing shows traders anticipate a near 10 percent – or $300 billion – swing in market value, likely the largest earnings move of any company, ever.
The results at the “so-called ‘most important company in the world,’” stand between Wall Street and fresh record highs, noted Capital.com analyst Kyle Rodda, and set the tone for the sector.
