US stock futures tread water; Lowe's impresses ahead of Nvidia's results

Investing.com-- U.S. stock index futures traded largely unchanged Tuesday amid uncertainty over the future path of interest rates and ahead of earnings from market darling Nvidia.

At 06:45 ET (10:45 GMT), Dow Jones Futures rose 12 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 Futures rose 3 points, or 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures fell 10 points, or 0.1%.

Tech sector looks to Nvidia

The main indices saw mixed trading on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 0.5%, but the S&P 500 rising 0.1% and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite climbing 0.7% to a new record high.

Tech stocks saw sustained buying, with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) set to report quarterly earnings after the closing bell on Wednesday.

The company has been at the heart of a massive spike in market valuations over the past year, and is seen as a bellwether for the rapidly growing artificial intelligence industry. Nvidia's earnings are likely to set the tone for the broader technology sector.

Nvidia rose 2.5% and was close to a record high. Its peers Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) rose 1.1% and 0.9%, respectively, while tech heavyweights including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) all advancing.

The sectoral news was less impressive Tuesday as Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) (NASDAQ:PANW) stock tumbled more than 8% premarket, after analysts flagged that the cybersecurity firm's latest billings forecast disappointed elevated expectations.

More Fed cues awaited amid rate uncertainty

However, away from the tech sector, markets remained on edge ahead of more cues from the Fed this week, specifically the minutes of its last meeting and addresses by several officials.

While mildly softer consumer inflation readings for April sparked a rally on Wall Street, a slew of Fed officials warned that the bank still needed much more confidence that inflation was coming down, before it could begin cutting interest rates.

Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin and New York Fed President John Williams are among the Fed officials set to speak later on Tuesday. Both officials are members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee.

The central bank could begin trimming rates by September, although this will also largely depend on the path of inflation.

Lowe's net sales soar

The retail sector will also be in the spotlight Tuesday, due to earnings from Lowe’s (NYSE:LOW) and Macy’s (NYSE:M).

Lowe's stock rose 3% premarket after the home improvement retailer reported first-quarter net sales that topped analysts' estimates, boosted by growth in its online offerings and services for professionals.

Crude falls ahead of US inventories

Crude prices fell Tuesday, extending losses posted in the previous session, on worries high U.S. interest rates will hit economic activity in the world’s largest consumer this year.

By 06:45 ET, the U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 1.4% lower at $78.20 per barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 1.4% to $82.57 a barrel.

Both benchmarks fell less than 1% on Monday as U.S. Federal Reserve officials said they were awaiting more signs of slowing inflation before considering interest rate cuts.

Political uncertainty in Iran, following the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, as well as concerns over the Saudi King’s health have also presented some risk for the crude markets.

The latest estimate of U.S. crude inventories is due later in the session, from the American Petroleum Institute.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

This article first appeared in Investing.com