Stock Market Today: Wall Street teeters on records ahead of Nvidia earnings and inflation data | National News

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is languishing near record highs at the start of a week marked by another corporate earnings release and the latest government inflation numbers.

The S&P 500 lost 0.1 percent on Monday morning. The benchmark index is now only 0.7 percent below its record high from July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 194 points or 0.5 percent to 41,370 points (as of 10:23 a.m. Eastern Time). It is on course for a record.

The Nasdaq lost 0.7 percent. It was weighed down by several technology companies that often influence the market due to their high values. Microsoft lost 0.5 percent.

Oil prices rose 3.6% after heavy shelling by Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Sunday, sparking potential supply concerns.

Bond yields remained relatively stable. The yield on 10-year US government bonds was at 3.80 percent as of Friday evening.

Investors have a busy week ahead. On Monday, there were better-than-expected figures showing that orders for durable goods from US factories, including cars, rose 9.9 percent in July. There is an update on consumer confidence on Tuesday, and on Thursday the US will release a revised estimate of second-quarter economic growth.

Semiconductor manufacturer Nvidia is presenting its latest financial results on Wednesday. It benefited greatly from the Wall Street mania surrounding artificial intelligence and became one of the largest companies on the stock market with a total value of over $3 trillion. On Monday, the share price lost 1.7 percent, but over the course of the year it has risen by 157 percent.

Other companies that released their reports this week include Kohl's, Chewy, Salesforce and Dollar General.

The most important report for investors this week comes on Friday, when the government releases its latest inflation data, the Personal Consumption and Expenditure (PCE) report for July, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled clearly on Friday that the central bank plans to cut its benchmark interest rate, which is currently at a 20-year high. The Fed has been raising rates to try to bring inflation back down to its 2% target. Inflation has been steadily declining and economists surveyed by FactSet expect the latest PCE data to show inflation at 2.6%.

Traders are forecasting a rate cut at the Fed's September meeting, expecting the central bank to cut its benchmark interest rate by at least one percentage point by the end of the year, according to data from CME Group.

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