U.S. Stocks May See Early Strength As Nvidia Surges

(RTTNews) - Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Tuesday, adding to the modest gains posted in the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.3 percent.

Nvidia (NVDA) may help lead the markets higher, as the AI darling is surging by 4.7 percent in pre-market trading.

The spike by Nvidia comes after the company indicated it will "soon" resume H20 AI chip sales to China.

"The U.S. government has assured NVIDIA that licenses will be granted, and NVIDIA hopes to start deliveries soon," the company said in a statement.

The futures remained positive after the Labor Department released a report showing consumer prices in the U.S. increased in line with economist estimates in the month of June.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.3 percent in June after inching up by 0.1 percent in May.

The annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated to 2.7 percent in June from 2.4 percent in July. Economists had expected the price of growth to rise to 2.6 percent.

The Labor Department also said the core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy prices, edged up by 0.2 percent in June after creeping up by 0.1 percent in May. Core prices were expected to increase by 0.3 percent.

The report said the annual rate of core consumer price growth ticked up to 2.9 percent in June from 2.8 percent in May, in line with economist estimates.

After showing a lack of direction early in the session, stocks moved modestly higher over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages all moved to the upside following the pullback seen during last Friday's session.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 54.80 points or 0.3 percent to 20,640.33, the Dow rose 88.14 points or 0.2 percent to 44,459.65 and the S&P 500 inched up 8.81 points or 0.1 percent to 6,268.56.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index climbed by 0.6 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.6 percent, although China's Shanghai Composite Index bucked the uptrend and fell by 0.4 percent.

The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the German DAX Index is up by 0.3 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.1 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slipping $0.11 to $66.87 a barrel after tumbling $1.47 to $66.98 a barrel on Monday. Meanwhile, after dipping $4.90 to $3,359.10 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are edging down $1.10 to $3,358 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 148.09 yen compared to the 147.72 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1668 compared to yesterday's $1.1664.