U.S. stocks turn lower after Nvidia's blowout earnings on AI surge

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks got a jolt from tech after Nvidia's stronger-than-expected earnings report and outlook, which demonstrated the surge of activity around artificial intelligence.

At 10:51 ET (14:51 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 68 points or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.7%. All three indexes were trading higher earlier in the session.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), the world's most valuable chipmaker, posted stunning quarterly results after the close Wednesday, crushing already sky-high estimates, with revenue of $13.5 billion during the second quarter, more than doubling the prior mark of $6.7B.

The California chipmaker was boosted by the intensifying frenzy over generative AI, which looks set to continue as the year progresses as the company predicted third quarter revenue would climb to $16B or a year-over-year increase of 170%.

Nvidia stock jumped over 1.6%, helping the likes of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google owner Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), both of which are rushing to incorporate generative AI into their Web search platforms and other services, higher.

Jobless claims, durable goods due

However, this positive tone isn’t universal, with Dow futures in the red after U.S. business activity readings undershot expectations, raising concerns about future economic growth, while fears of an overheated jobs market have also eased a touch.

Initial jobless claims of 230,000 last week were lower than expected and lower than the prior week.

The main focus, though, will be the start of the yearly gathering of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming later Thursday, with investors focused on comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday for fresh policy signals.

More retail earnings

Away from Nvidia, there are more earnings to digest, mainly in the retail sector, including from discount retailer Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR), casual clothing retailer Gap (NYSE:GPS), beauty salon Ulta Beauty (NASDAQ:ULTA), and department store chain Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN). Dollar Tree beat expectations for revenue and profit, with better than forecast same store sales gains, but margins narrowed. Shares were down 10%.

Crude steadies after U.S. inventories

Oil prices edged higher Thursday as traders digested a mixed set of U.S. inventories numbers ahead of Friday’s key speech from Fed chief Jerome Powell.

Data on Wednesday showed an unexpected, substantial build in U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories over the past week, which pointed to weakening U.S. fuel demand, but also a bigger-than-expected draw in broader crude inventories.

(Peter Nurse and Oliver Gray contributed to this item.)