Stocks Rise Just Hours Ahead of Nvidia’s Results: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks rose ahead of key earnings from Nvidia Corp. that could help reignite the artificial intelligence-driven rally.

Equities rebounded after a selloff that drove the market to a five-week low, with the cohort of big techs breaching the threshold of a correction. The group bounced back on Wednesday, with the giant chipmaker up more than 3%. Options markets are pricing in a potentially 10% move in Nvidia’s shares after tonight’s earnings release. 

Reports from the leader in AI chips have become some of the most-important events of the year for Wall Street. Nvidia’s fourth-quarter earnings due after Wednesday’s close may be its most critical yet, coming after the emergence of China-based startup DeepSeek scrambled the outlook for AI infrastructure needs.

“The reality is, we need a good set of numbers from Nvidia to keep this bull track in place in the US,” said Guy Miller, chief market strategist at Zurich Insurance Co. “It will be important that the numbers are good and the outlook is good. If it’s a really disappointing reading the market will be vulnerable to a further setback.”

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%. The Nasdaq 100 added 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average wavered.

In other corporate highlights, Super Micro Computer Inc. surged 18% after submitting outstanding financial reports to become compliant with Nasdaq Inc. rules. Two short sellers released reports on AppLovin Corp., touching off a 13% selloff in shares of the company that provides marketing services to app developers. 

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.29%. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%.

US stock gains are likely to continue broadening beyond the technology sector, according to Savita Subramanian at Bank of America Corp.

“There are a lot of attractive opportunities within the S&P 500 that may not be the Magnificent Seven,” the strategist told Bloomberg Television. “The theme is not necessarily ‘rest of world over US,’ but broadening trends outside of just mega cap tech.”

Corporate Highlights:

• General Motors Co. plans to step up its program of buybacks by repurchasing $6 billion in shares and raising its dividend, rewarding investors by pushing more cash off its balance sheet.
• Lowe’s Cos. forecast sales to rise this year, an early sign that consumers are starting to spend again after staying on the sidelines due to higher rates.
• Off-price retailer TJX Cos. reported positive quarterly results, rebounding after its TJ Maxx and Marshalls brands saw softer-than-anticipated sales last quarter.
• Shares in power and electrical equipment companies are trading higher after a report said Meta Platforms Inc. was in discussions to build a new data center campus for its AI projects that could cost more than $200 billion.
• ZoomInfo Technologies Inc., infrastructure software company, reported fourth-quarter results that beat expectations and gave an outlook that is seen as strong.
• Cava Group Inc., one of the few chains that has managed to increase customer visits even as peers struggle, gave a sales outlook for 2025 fell short of expectations.
• Advance Auto Parts Inc. projected that comparable sales would fall more than Wall Street anticipated in the current quarter.
• Workday Inc., a human-resources software company, reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that beat expectations.
• Instacart posted disappointing fourth-quarter revenue and projected lower-than-expected adjusted earnings in the current period, offering a mixed picture about its business even as delivery orders remained robust.
• BP Plc announced a major pivot back to its core oil and gas business and promised to sell assets and reduce spending, but shares fell as the company sharply cut buybacks.

Key events this week:

• Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday
• US GDP, durable goods, initial jobless claims, Thursday
• Fed’s Jeff Schmid, Beth Hammack, Patrick Harker, Michael Barr, Michelle Bowman speak, Thursday
• Japan Tokyo CPI, industrial production, retail sales, Friday
• US PCE inflation, income and spending, Friday
• Fed’s Austan Goolsbee speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 rose 0.4% as of 9:39 a.m. New York time
• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.6%
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.7%
• The MSCI World Index rose 0.3%
• Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 0.6%
• The Russell 2000 Index rose 0.6%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%
• The euro fell 0.2% to $1.0491
• The British pound was little changed at $1.2662
• The Japanese yen fell 0.3% to 149.44 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 2.4% to $86,560.6
• Ether fell 4.2% to $2,405.84

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.29%
• Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.44%
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 4.49%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.1% to $68.84 a barrel
• Spot gold fell 0.7% to $2,893.83 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from John Viljoen, Sujata Rao, Alice Gledhill and Winnie Hsu.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.