TOKYO — Global shares were mixed in muted trading Wednesday as investors awaited a closely watched earnings report from Nvidia.
France’s CAC 40 gained 0.3% in early trading to 7,589.46, while German’s DAX rose 0.5% to 18,781.79. Britain’s FTSE 100 inched down less than 0.1% to 8,338.68. U.S. shares were set to be mixed with Dow futures being little changed at 41,352.00. S&P 500 futures gained nearly 0.1% to 5,649.25.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up 0.2% to finish at 38,371.76.
Toyota stock jumped 3.9% after Japanese media reported Japan’s top automaker was going to announce a cooperative agreement on fuel cells with European automaker BMW.
Fuel cell vehicles are ecological, running on electricity produced when hydrogen and oxygen combines and forms water. Japanese business daily Nikkei reported a partnership will be announced next week.
Toyota Motor Corp., often criticized as falling behind the global push in electric vehicles, is a longtime proponent of fuel cells.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% to 8,071.40. Australia’s headline index of inflation for July fell less than expected, down 3.5% from the previous year.
South Korea’s Kospi rose less than 0.1% to 2,689.83.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which has been rising steadily in recent sessions, dipped 1.0% to 17,692.45. Analysts believe higher-than-expected Chinese industrial profits reported this week weren’t great enough to maintain past optimism. The Shanghai Composite dipped 0.4% to 2,837.43.
All eyes are on the upcoming Nvidia earnings report. Big tech companies like Nvidia have become extremely influential lately, if not overblown, with its total market value topping $3 trillion.
Nvidia reports its latest results on Wednesday. It rose 1.5% on Tuesday and has made a 159% gain this year.
“That’s the major question, and I think all eyes will be on Nvidia as they report this week,” said Bill Merz, head of capital markets research at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. “That’s kind of the elephant in the room, so to speak, that many investors will focus on.”
Also high on investors’ watch is the expectation that the Federal Reserve will cut its main interest rate at its next meeting in September. Investors are looking ahead to Friday, when the U.S. government releases its latest data on inflation with the PCE, or personal consumption and expenditures report, for July.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude lost 59 cents to $74.94 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 51 cents to $79.04 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 144.18 Japanese yen from 143.91 yen. The euro cost $1.1146, down from $1.1188.
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AP Business Writers Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga contributed. Yuri Kageyama is on X: https://x.com/yurikageyama
