$NDSN

Stocks Gain Pre-Bell Ahead of Nvidia Earnings, Fed Meeting Minutes

The main US stock measures were pointing higher in Wednesday's premarket activity as traders await tech bellwether Nvidia's (NVDA) latest financial results and minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting.The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1% and the Nasdaq added 0.7% before the opening bell. The indexes finished Tuesday trading lower, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 recording losses for a third consecutive session.Shares of Nvidia increased 1.8% pre-bell, with the chipmaker scheduled to report its fiscal first-quarter results after the markets close. The current consensus on FactSet is for the company to report non-GAAP earnings of $1.75 per share and revenue of $78.91 billion for the quarter.Nvidia's sales are expected to outperform market projections, with potential for "enhanced" cash returns likely to be among the key areas of focus, BofA Securities said in a note e-mailed Tuesday.The Fed is scheduled to post minutes of its last policy meeting at 2 pm, which will be assessed for fresh insight on the central bank's monetary policy. Last month, the central bank held interest rates steady, saying the Middle East war is fueling uncertainty around the US economic outlook.Markets widely expect the Fed to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at its next policy meeting in June, according to the CME FedWatch tool.Treasury yields were down before the open, with the two-year rate retreating 3.3 basis points to 4.09% and the 10-year rate declining 1.8 basis points to 5.16%.President Donald Trump reportedly said Tuesday that the US may need to resume military strikes against Iran. Earlier in the week, Trump said the US postponed a planned attack on Tehran after leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates urged restraint amid "serious" ongoing negotiations.West Texas Intermediate crude oil decreased 1.9% to $102.17 a barrel in premarket action, while Brent dropped 2% to $109.02.Wednesday's economic calendar also has the weekly mortgage applications bulletin at 7 am, followed by the EIA domestic petroleum inventories report at 10:30 am. Fed Governor Michael Barr is slated to speak at 9:15 am.Analog Devices (ADI), TJX (TJX), Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT) and Hasbro (HAS) are expected to post their earnings before the bell, among others. Intuit (INTU), Nordson (NDSN) and Urban Outfitters (URBN) release their results after the markets close.Gold nudged 0.4% lower to $4,493 per troy ounce, while bitcoin gained 0.9% to $77,457.