US stocks unchanged ahead of Fed minutes, key Nvidia earnings

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were roughly unchanged Wednesday, ahead of the minutes from the latest Federal Reserve May meeting and key earnings from AI-darling Nvidia.

At 13:06 ET (18:06 GMT), Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 33 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 fell 0.1%, while NASDAQ Composite was flat.

Nvidia flat ahead of earnings as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) denies halting chip orders

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) traded just below the flatline just ahead of its earnings release due after markets close as Amazon denied an earlier Financial Times reported that it halted chip orders ahead of the chipmaker's release of new chips.

The chipmaker is expected to report earnings of $5.58 a share on revenue of $24.53B for the quarter.

Quarterly earnings continue

Target (NYSE:TGT) stock fell almost 7% after its latest quarterly earnings missed analysts expectations amid weak discretionary spending.

TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX) rose over 6% after the TJ Maxx parent posted better-than-expected first-quarter results and raised its annual profit forecast,

Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) stock dropped 35% after the athletic apparel retailer announced the departure of Chief Product Officer Sun Choe.

But the selloff is likely overdone, Wedbush said in Wednesday note, as "hypergrowth internationally can mitigate slower growth at home, while reduced discounting online could be a sign that U.S. trends are starting to stabilize."

Fed minutes due as officials stick to cautious stance on rates

The Fed minutes are also due during later in Wednesday’s session, and come following a string of cautious signals from members of the central bank.

The Fed kept rates steady during the last meeting and warned that inflation was turning sticky. But it also still mentioned the possibility of interest rate cuts this year, a statement that markets had clung to.

Still, several Fed officials cautioned this week that the central bank needed much more confidence that inflation was easing, before it could begin trimming rates. But they also downplayed speculation that the bank would increase rates further.

Beyond the minutes, more Fed officials are also set to speak in the coming days.

Crude slips after surprise US inventories build; BHP (ASX:BHP) slips after improved bid for Anglo American (JO:AGLJ) rejected

Crude prices fell Wednesday, retreating for the third straight session on U.S. interest rates jitters as well as an unexpected build in U.S. inventories.

Data from the Energy Information Agency showed Wednesday that U.S. oil inventories grew by 1.8 million barrels last week, confounding expectations for a 2.4M barrel decline. That raised some concerns over sluggish U.S. oil demand, with the upcoming Memorial Day holiday marking the traditional start of the travel-heavy summer season.

BHP Group Ltd ADR (NYSE:BHP), meanwhile, fell more than 3% after its improved 39.24 billion pound, or $49.87B, offer to takeover rival Anglo American was rejected. Anglo American did, however, say it would keep dialogue open with BHP and requested a one-week extension, signalling that a potential deal remains of interest.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

This article first appeared in Investing.com