US market today: Wall Street dips as Nvidia earnings awaited, Fed signals keep investors cautious

Wall Street stocks slipped on Monday as investors turned cautious ahead of Nvidia’s earnings and fresh inflation data, with the pullback coming after a strong rally driven by expectations of potential interest rate cuts.The Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 0.1% to 45,577.09, while the S&P 500 shed 0.2% to 6,455.88. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.4% to 21,420.33 during initial minutes of trading, AFP reported.“AI has been the primary driver of the market this year,” said Christopher Low of FHN Financial, highlighting the central role of artificial intelligence in shaping investor sentiment. He added that Nvidia, which reports its results on Wednesday, remains a key stock to watch as it is one that people “have used to wager” on the industry.Beyond corporate earnings, investors are awaiting the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge later this week. Both the consumer price index and producer price index “were a little bit hot this month,” Low noted.Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week signalled that rate cuts could be on the table at the central bank’s September policy meeting. But Low told AFP that “some Fed officials have said they need to see more data before making up their mind on the path of monetary policy.”Analysts say that labour market data, due in the first week of September, will be critical in shaping the Fed’s next move.