San Francisco Frontiers - Stocks steadier before key Nvidia results

Bitcoin held above $90,000, the dollar strengthened and oil prices dropped.

"Investors will breathe a sigh of relief that the market sell-off has lost momentum," noted Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

"Pockets of Europe and Asia were up... and futures prices imply a similar trend when Wall Street opens later today."

Mould said "the key question is whether this is simply the calm before the storm.

"Nvidia reports tonight and the slightest bit of news to disappoint investors has the potential to whip up a tornado across global markets."

Investors have endured a tough November as speculation has grown that the tech-led rally this year may have gone too far, and valuations have become frothy enough to warrant a stiff correction.

With the Magnificent Seven -- including Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Apple -- powering recent record highs on Wall Street, there are worries that a change in sentiment could have huge ripple effects on markets.

The spotlight Wednesday turns on the earnings report from the biggest of the bunch: chip giant Nvidia, which last month became the first $5-trillion company.

Investors are nervous that any sign of weakness could be the pin that pops the artificial intelligence bubble, having spent months fearing that the hundreds of billions invested may have been excessive.

"The AI complex, once the undisputed locomotive of 2025's rally, now sounds like an engine with sand in the gears," said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

"This isn't a crash, or a panic, or even a proper correction; it's the unmistakable sensation of a market trading at altitude with borrowed oxygen, suddenly aware of how thin the air has become."

He added that four days of losses in Wall Street's S&P 500, the VIX "fear index" hitting 25 -- a level that causes traders concern -- and a tone shift were "all signs that investors are finally blinking at the speed and scale of the AI capex boom".

Meanwhile, a Bank of America survey of fund managers found that more than half thought AI stocks were already in a bubble and 45 percent thought that that was the biggest "tail risk" to markets, more so than inflation.

That came after the BBC released an interview with the head of Google's parent company Alphabet -- Sundar Pichai -- who warned every company would be impacted if the AI bubble were to burst.

- Key figures at around 1115 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,559.89 points

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,957.56

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 23,212.35

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 48,537.70 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.4 percent at 25,830.65 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,946.74 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 1.1 percent at 46,091.74 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1570 from $1.1580

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3105 from $1.3146

Dollar/yen: UP at 156.28 yen from 155.53 yen on Tuesday

Euro/pound: UP at 88.27 from 88.09 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.9 percent at $64.34 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $60.24 per barrel

G.Allen--SFF