US stocks drift as investors await Nvidia earnings and digest Fed inflation data

US equities slipped on Wednesday as investors found themselves caught between Nvidia’s highly anticipated earnings report and a fresh inflation reading. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both drifted lower in a session defined more by what hadn’t happened yet than by what had. Nvidia shares dipped roughly 0.4% in early trading ahead of its fiscal Q2 2027 results, scheduled for release after the closing bell. The inflation picture nobody wanted The July Personal Consumption Expenditures report showed headline inflation holding steady at 3.7% year-over-year, a touch above the 3.6% consensus estimate. Core PCE, which strips out food and energy, came in unchanged at 3.3%. The sticky readings shifted rate expectations in a hawkish direction. Futures contracts are now pricing in a 42% to 44% probability of a rate hike at the Fed’s September meeting, up from earlier estimates. Second-quarter GDP growth was confirmed at an annualized rate of 1.5%. All eyes on Nvidia Analysts expected the chipmaker to report approximately $92 billion in quarterly revenue, representing a 96% increase compared to the same period last year. Nvidia’s dominance in AI chips, particularly its GPU architecture powering da...