Stock market today: Wall Street leans modestly lower as markets await Friday's inflation data

Wall Street drifted modestly lower before the bell Wednesday as markets digest corporate earnings while waiting for an important inflation update from the government on Friday.

Futures for the S&P 500 were essentially flat, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.2%.

Chipmaker Nvidia rose in off-hours trading, taking back more of the losses incurred during a recent three-day stretch during which 13% of its value vanished. Nvidia, whose chips are in high demand for artificial intelligence applications, rose 2% in premarket, following a 6.8% gain on Tuesday.

Shares of Rivian soared 37% on news that Volkswagen has agreed to invest up to $5 billion in a new joint venture with the electric vehicle maker.

FedEx jumped 14.6% after it beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter sales and profit targets, boosted by recent cost-cutting initiatives.

On Friday, the government reports on the inflation gauge that the Federal Reserve follows most closely and is expected to influence the Fed’s decision on when to begin cutting interest rates in the coming months. The government’s report also includes the latest figures on consumer spending, the primary driver of the U.S. economy.

Broadly, sales at retailers across the country have been up and down recently as companies highlight how lower-income customers are struggling to keep up with still-rising prices.

Investors are hoping that the Federal Reserve will soon begin cutting interest rates, which it has kept at their highest level in more than 20 years in hopes of grinding down on the economy just enough to get inflation under control. The hope on Wall Street is that the Fed will cut interest rates at the exact right time. If it waits too long, the economy’s slowdown could careen into a recession. If it’s too early, inflation could reaccelerate.

In Europe at midday, Germany's DAX and the FTSE in London each fell 0.2%, while the CAC 40 in Paris tumbled nearly 0.8%.

In Asian trading, Japan’s Nikkei jumped 1.3% to 39,667.07, buoyed by strong demand for technology shares driven by the enthusiasm over Nvidia and artificial intelligence.

Tokyo Electron gained 3.6% and Advantest Corp. soared 7%. Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. added 1.5%.

Meanwhile, the dollar inched higher against the Japanese yen, drawing warnings from senior officials in Tokyo of potential intervention in the market.

The dollar breached the 160 yen level, rising to 160.32 Japanese yen from 159.70 yen.

“Fundamentally, the yen remains weak, lacking triggers for a reversal,” Luca Santos, a currency analyst at ACY Securities, said in a commentary just before the dollar breached the 160 yen level.

“The threat of direct intervention looms if USD/JPY crosses the 160.00 (yen) threshold,” he said, noting that Japanese officials had stressed that the pace of the yen’s decline, not just its level, could trigger intervention.

The euro fell to $1.0695 from $1.0717.

The Kospi in Seoul was up 0.6% at 2,792.05.

Chinese shares rebounded after a weak open. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged 0.1% higher to 18,089.93 and the Shanghai Composite index surged 0.8% to 2,972.53.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.7% to 7,783.00.

Shares rose 05.% in Taiwan and 0.7% in India. Bangkok's SET edged 0.1% higher.

In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil picked up 47 cents to $81.30 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude, the international standard, was up 45 cents at $84.67 per barrel.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which does not include Nvidia, dropped 0.8%. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.3%.