San Francisco Frontiers - Stocks diverge as traders eye Nvidia earnings

Traders are also waiting for key US economic data later this week that could provide clues about the size of an expected interest-rate cut next month.

In New York, the main indexes were all down slightly shortly after opening. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 Index was lower, while Paris and Frankfurt were higher in mid-afternoon trading.

All markets are focused on the release of Nvidia's second-quarter results after the close of US markets Wednesday.

The market has a "wait-and-see mentality", said Patrick J. O'Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com, because Nvidia "is primed to move. Everybody knows that. What they don't know is which way. So, the market is operating in a guarded fashion."

Nvidia is up about 160 percent year-to-date and has accounted for a third of the broad-based S&P 500 index's gains this year.

The market expects the company to post sales ranging between $27 billion and $32 billion, more than double from a year ago, said Swissquote Bank analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

"The expectations for Nvidia's Q2 results are sky-high," she said, which means markets could be in for a rough ride if Nvidia disappoints.

"This is the one that could either lift all boats or sink the entire fleet," said analyst Stephen Innes in his Dark Side Of The Boom newsletter.

Nvidia has seen profits soar thanks to demand for its powerful GPU chips, which have set the industry's pace in pushing new advances in artificial intelligence.

Its success has pushed its market valuation over the $3 trillion mark.

Investors are also waiting for the release of US economic growth data on Thursday and the Federal Reserve's favoured gauge of inflation on Friday, followed by jobs figures next week.

Fed chief Jerome Powell said last week that the central bank was ready to cut rates, which were raised to a 23-year high in efforts to combat inflation, but he did not indicate by how much.

The Fed's next rate decision will be made at its September 17-18 meeting, with investors divided over whether the cut will be 25 or 50 basis points.

The dollar firmed somewhat Wednesday after losing ground recently on expectations of the Fed's interest rate cuts, which reduces returns on US assets.

Oil prices slipped Wednesday, shedding some gains from earlier in the week when they jumped after the administration that controls eastern Libya said it would suspend oil production. But it remains unclear how many oil fields are really going offline.

- Key figures around 1340 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 41,214.23

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 5,619.79

New York - Nasdaq Compisite: DOWN percent 0.3 at 17,707.96

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 8,337.87

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 7,598.93

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 18,828.09

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 38,371.76 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0 percent at 17,692.45 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 2,837.43 (close)

Dollar/yen: UP at 144.96 yen from 143.96 yen on Tuesday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1116 from $1.1185

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3197 from $1.3261

Euro/pound: DOWN at 84.26 pence from 84.34 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.9 percent at $74.88 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.8 percent at $78.92 per barrel

X.Roberts--SFF