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Investing.com — U.S. stock index futures rose slightly in Sunday night trading but remained steady after a reading of higher-than-expected producer inflation led to some losses in the previous session. This week, the focus has shifted to a series of major earnings results.
Trading volume was limited on Monday ahead of the holiday.
was flat, while and rose by 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively. All three indexes are within range of their record highs set in early February.
U.S. stock indexes on Friday fell from near all-time highs after higher-than-expected January PPI inflation data, with the persistence of inflation forcing the Federal Reserve to push ahead this year. This raised concerns that this would provide further impetus to keep interest rates high for a long period of time.
It closed 0.5% lower on Friday, with and and down 0.8% and 0.4%, respectively.
The PPI values were released just days after the strong rally that sent U.S. stocks plummeting from all-time highs.
NVIDIA and Walmart's profits are coming into view.
But U.S. stocks face a number of important earnings tests this week, which are largely expected to determine whether Wall Street's recent rally is justified.
Chipmaker NVIDIA Corporation's (NASDAQ:) fourth-quarter results will take center stage after the market closes on February 21st. Nvidia is at the center of a massive stock rally fueled by growing hype around artificial intelligence, and investors are now looking to the company's earnings and outlook for further clues about the trajectory of AI-powered demand. I'm paying attention.
The company is expected to report EPS of $4.63 on revenue of $20.52 billion. A number of analysts also raised their price targets for Nvidia in anticipation of earnings, while maintaining buy or outperform ratings on the semiconductor maker.
Retail giant Walmart (NYSE:) is scheduled to report its fourth quarter results on February 20th, before the market opens. Walmart is typically seen as a key indicator of the strength of U.S. consumer spending, which is closely tied to the outlook for inflation.
Consumer spending has eased steadily in recent months amid pressure from persistent inflation and high interest rates, but Walmart has still posted solid profit growth in recent quarters.
The retail giant is expected to report EPS of $1.65 on revenue of $169.3 billion.
Besides the earnings results, preliminary PMI numbers for February are also expected to provide further clues about the US economy later in the week. These are also currently underway and are expected to provide further signals regarding the direction of US interest rates this year.
