Futures edge up on September rate-cut bets; Nvidia results in focus
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PDD Holdings slumps after quarterly revenue miss
BJ's Wholesale Club gains after rating upgrade
Futures up: Dow 0.12%, S&P 500 0.16%, Nasdaq 0.03%
Updated at 07:21 a.m. ET/1121 GMT
By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal
Aug 26 (Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures inchedhigher on Monday, with the markets focusedon results from AI-darlingNvidia and a key inflation report due later in the week, while investors remained optimistic abouta September rate cut from the central bank.
Markets welcomed FederalReserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments on Friday, when he said "the time has come" to lower borrowing costs in the light of diminishing upside risk to inflation and moderating labor demand.
The main indexes rallied more than 1% in the previous session, with the S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow .DJI less than 1% from their respective record highs. Rate-sensitive small caps .RUT logged their strongest day in six week as equities continued to pare losses from the early-August market rout.
Traders are now betting on either a25-basis-point or a 50-basis-point rate cut in September. Odds of the former have dropped to 63.5% from more than 70% in the previous week, while odds of a 50-bps cut have risen to 36.5% from about 30% last week, according to the CME Group's Fed Watch tool.
"Employment data of late has been weak... as the inflation side seems to be under control, the developments in the employment leg will determine the size of the cuts," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
Attention will turn to the gross domestic product estimates for the second quarter along with July Personal Consumption Expenditure data, the central bank's preferred inflation gauge, due later in the week.
At 7:21 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 49 points, or 0.12%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 9.25 points, or 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 5 points, or 0.03%.
As earnings season draws to a close, chip designer Nvidia NVDA.O, whose results are scheduled on Wednesday, traded nearly 1% higher in premarket trading.
Markets have been less forgiving this quarter of highly valued megacap stocks, which spearheaded the excitement around artificial intelligence.
They will scrutinize Nvidia's earnings to justify the stock's more than 160% year-to-date jump, which pushed its market cap value to No. 2, just below that of Apple AAPL.O, as of Friday's close.
"The expectations remain sky-high. Nvidia cannot afford any missteps at current valuations. Everything from the numbers to guidance should be perfect to the keep the rally going," Ozkardeskaya said.
Results from Dell DELL.N, Salesforce CRM.N, Dollar General DG.N and Gap GAP.N are also awaited through the week.
Comments from San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly, a Federal Open Market Committee voting member this year, are due later in the day.
With the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East in the spotlight, crude prices climbed over 1%.
Among others, U.S.-listed shares of China's PDD Holdings PDD.Osank 14.9% after the Temu-ownermissed market expectations for second-quarter revenue.
BJ's Wholesale Club BJ.N rose 1.0% after brokerage J.P.Morgan lifted its rating on the club operator to "neutral" from "underweight".
B Riley Financial RILY.O dropped 1.9% after the lender announced a notification of delinquency with the Nasdaq.
Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
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