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Update: US Equity Futures Mostly Flat Pre-Bell as Traders Weigh Inflation Data, Await Nvidia Results

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(Updates with economic data, recent oil price changes, world markets' overview, and corporate stock movements.)

US equity futures were mostly flat pre-bell Wednesday as traders awaited a key inflation report and AI bellwether Nvidia's (NVDA) financial results.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.1% higher, S&P 500 futures were flat, and Nasdaq futures were 0.2% lower.

President Donald Trump said that the US Navy has told him that all mines have been removed or detonated within the Strait of Hormuz. "There is a Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Nvidia is expected to report its fiscal Q2 earnings after the market closes. Analysts polled by FactSet expect earnings of $2.09 per share on revenue of $92.27 billion.

Oil prices were lower, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude down 2.3% at $85.25 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 2.5% lower at $80.27 per barrel.

The July core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, released at 8:30 am ET, increased to 0.2% from a pace of 0.1% in the prior month and the expected 0.2% gain in estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Durable goods new orders rose 1.1% in July after a 0.5% gain in the prior month, compared with expectations for a 0.5% increase.

Personal income rose by 0.4% in July following June's 0.2% gain, larger than the expected 0.2% gain. The second estimate for Q2 GDP came in at 1.5%, unchanged from the advance print and meeting expectations.

Federal Reserve Richmond President Thomas Barkin is slated to speak on Wednesday.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.6% higher, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.6% higher, and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.6% higher. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 was flat, and Germany's DAX index was 0.5% higher in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, Intuit (INTU) shares fell 9.9% after the company's outlook for fiscal Q1 and the full financial year missed market expectations. Boston Scientific (BSX) stock was down 5.8% after the company said it has identified a cybersecurity incident that affected certain IT systems and led to global disruption in operations.

On the winning side, Meta Platforms (META) shares rose 1.9% after Bloomberg reported that the company and 29 state attorneys general have discussed a potential settlement of a case in which the technology giant is accused of designing Facebook and Instagram to addict teenagers. Uber Technologies (UBER) stock was up 1.1% after multiple media outlets reported that the company is launching a new safety feature that allows linked parents and guardians to view a live video stream of their teenager's ride. Summit Therapeutics (SMMT) shares were 14% higher after the company said its partner Akeso reported "positive" results from a phase 3 trial of ivonescimab plus chemotherapy, compared with durvalumab plus chemotherapy as a first-line treatment of advanced biliary tract cancer.

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Update: US Equity Indexes Rise With Tech While Treasury Yields, Crude Oil Slide as Process to Tighten Noose Around Iran Begins

(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data, analyst comments and company/geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)US equity indexes rose as technology topped sector charts while government bond yields and crude oil extended declines after the Treasury Department began a campaign to tighten sanctions on Iran.The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5% to 26,151.30, the S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to 7,677.28, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.3% to 53,577.40 on Tuesday. Communication services was one of the biggest gainers, while energy and consumer staples led decliners at the close. Nvidia's (NVDA) quarterly earnings are due after the bell on Wednesday.The Treasury Department is targeting aviation, shipping, technology, gold and digital assets such as cryptocurrency to choke off Iran's economy, CNN reported. The US is also threatening to impose damaging new sanctions on countries that refuse to cut economic ties with Tehran.Iran pledged to fight back against expanded US sanctions, expressing confidence that major trading partners would resist the pressure campaign and saying that Washington was keen to revive talks, Reuters reported.Hours after the US sanctioned dozens of Chinese entities and threatened to target an unspecified "major financial institution" for its dealings with Tehran, Beijing responded by saying its relationship with Iran "should not be disrupted or undermined," Bloomberg reported. China will take "all necessary measures" to safeguard its interests, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian was cited as saying.China is the number one buyer of Iranian oil and has insisted it will keep buying about 1.4 million barrels per day, or more than 80% of Iran's crude it currently imports despite US sanctions, according to a Stifel note.The front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract sank 5.5% to $80.34 per barrel, and global benchmark North Sea Brent plunged 6.5% to $86.18 per barrel.US Treasury yields fell on Tuesday. The 30-year slumped 7.4 basis points to 5.16%, the 10-year dropped 8.1 basis points to 4.62%, and the two-year retreated six basis points to 4.19%.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's surprise plan to tamp down US borrowing costs by expanding bond buybacks is having an impact as Treasuries have outperformed equivalent-maturity swaps, narrowing the 30-year spread between the two to the smallest since February, Bloomberg reported.The US administration may be trying to create space for more corporate bond issuance in H2, with the specific goal of helping accelerate the AI infrastructure build-out, bringing the benefits of that build-out sooner and at a lower financial cost than otherwise would have been possible, a Macquarie note said.Meanwhile, the Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell to 89.4 in August from 90.2 in July, compared with expectations for no change in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. New home sales fell to a 607,000 annual rate in July from an upwardly revised 678,000 in June, below the 620,000 expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Home sales were down 6.3% from a year ago.July's personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, a key data point in monetary policy formulation, is due Wednesday.Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) lowered its full-year outlook amid a challenging athletic footwear and apparel marketplace while fiscal Q2 results missed market estimates. Shares sank 31%. Among the steepest decliners on the Dow and the S&P 500 were sports goods retailers Nike (NKE) and Lululemon Athletics (LULU).

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$DKS$LULU$NKE$NVDA
Asia Markets

Exchange-Traded Funds Rise as US Equities Advance After Midday

Broad Market IndicatorsBroad-market exchange-traded funds IWM and IVV were higher. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) added 0.6%.US equity indexes rose as technology topped sector charts while government bond yields and crude oil extended declines after Iran vowed to retaliate against the Trump administration's plans to choke its fragile economy.EnergyIShares US Energy ETF (IYE) and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) each lost 0.8%.TechnologyThe State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) rose 0.8%; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) also advanced.The State Street SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) was up 1.5%, while iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) added 1.3%.FinancialThe State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) fell fractionally. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) declined 0.1%, and its bearish counterpart, Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ), gained 0.2%.CommoditiesCrude oil eased 3.1%, and the United States Oil Fund (USO) lost 3.4%. Natural gas dipped 0.7%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) fell 0.1%.Gold on Comex rose 0.1%, and the State Street SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) eased 0.3%. Silver gained 0.1%, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) slipped 0.3%.ConsumerThe State Street Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) shed 1.2%. The Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) fell 1%, while iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) lost 0.6%.The State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) fell fractionally. VanEck Retail ETF (RTH) was flat, and the State Street SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) dropped 1.1%.HealthcareThe State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) gained 0.5%. iShares US Healthcare (IYH) and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) were also higher. IShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) added 1.7%.IndustrialThe State Street Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) dipped 0.3%. Vanguard Industrials Index Fund (VIS) and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) were also in the red.CryptocurrencyIn midday activity, bitcoin (BTC-USD) added 0.3%. Among cryptocurrency ETFs, ProShares Bitcoin ETF (BITO) gained 0.3%, ProShares Ether ETF (EETH) was up 0.3%, and ProShares Bitcoin & Ether Market Cap Weight ETF (BETH) climbed 0.7%.

Dow Jones^EEM^EXI^FAS^FAZ^GLD^IBB^IGM^IGV^IPK^IVV^IWMNasdaq Composite^IYE^IYH^IYJ^IYK^IYW^PMR^QQQ^RTH^SOXXS&P 500^SPY^UNG^USO^VDC^VHT^VIS^XLE^XLF^XLI^XLK^XLP^XLV^XRT^XSD$BETH$BITO$EETH
Asia Markets

Update: Technology Helps Push US Equity Indexes Higher Amid Declines in Treasury Yields, Crude Oil

(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data, and company news from the first paragraph.)US equity indexes rose as technology topped sector charts while government bond yields and crude oil extended declines after Iran vowed to retaliate against the Trump administration's plans to choke its fragile economy.The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.6% to 26,141.5, the S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to 7,675.6 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1% to 53,493.8. Consumer staples and energy led the decliners.Among companies with market capitalizations exceeding $200 billion each, more than half of the top 10 names by intraday returns were in the technology sector, according to data compiled by Finviz. Of those seven firms, five were related to the semiconductor industry. Marvell Technology (MRVL) led the pack, up 5.6%.US Treasury yields dropped after midday. The 30-year slumped 5.8 basis points to 5.17%, the 10-year dropped 5.9 basis points to 4.64% and the two-year retreated 5.3 basis points to 4.2%.Iran pledged to fight back against expanded US sanctions aimed at isolating its economy, expressing confidence that major trading partners would resist the pressure campaign and saying that Washington was keen to revive talks, Reuters reported.Hours after the US sanctioned dozens of Chinese entities and threatened to target an unspecified "major financial institution" for its dealings with Tehran, Beijing responded by saying its relationship with Iran "should not be disrupted or undermined," Bloomberg reported. China will take "all necessary measures" to safeguard its interests, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian was cited as saying.The front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract retreated 3.4% to $82.09 per barrel, and global benchmark North Sea Brent slumped 3.8% to $88.69 per barrel.A Canada-US trade deal could still be reached by year-end despite renewed tariff tensions, Commerzbank Research said in a Tuesday note. Monday's US tariffs on Canadian vehicles, auto parts and steel are set to take effect from the start of next year.Meanwhile, in economic news, the Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell to 89.4 in August from 90.2 in July, compared with expectations for no change in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.New-home sales fell to a 607,000 annual rate in July from an upwardly revised 678,000 in June, below the 620,000 expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Home sales were down 6.3% from a year ago.The Richmond Fed's manufacturing index fell to 4 in August from 5 in July, below expectations for 7 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. In contrast, other regional manufacturing data already released have suggested a faster pace of expansion.Redbook US same-store sales surged 9.1% from a year earlier in the week ended Aug. 22 after a 7.6% jump in the prior week. Redbook noted strong back-to-school sales.In company news, Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) lowered its full-year outlook amid a challenging athletic footwear and apparel marketplace while fiscal Q2 results missed market estimates. Shares sank 29%. Among the steepest decliners on the Dow and the S&P 500 were sports goods retailers Nike (NKE) and Lululemon Athletics (LULU), down 2.7% and 4.2%, respectively.

Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$DKS$LULU$MRVL$NKE