US stocks wavered on Wednesday as investors counted down to Nvidia's (NVDA) highly anticipated earnings report, seen as a pivotal test for the tech-driven summer rally.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) hovered above the flatline, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell below the flat line. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) lost 0.1% on the heels of small gains for stocks on Wall Street.

The waiting game is on for Nvidia's quarterly results, slated to arrive after the bell. Investor hopes for the world's most valuable company are sky-high, with the AI chip giant expected to post record high revenue and adjusted profit for the second quarter.

But investors are watching for the fallout from President Trump's curbs on China chip sales, which Nvidia forecast will deliver an $8 billion hit to its quarterly bottom line. More widely, the Big Tech bellwether's earnings are a big test for the broader AI trade that has driven the bull market in stocks. Traders are pricing in a swing of roughly 6% — or about $260 billion — in Nvidia shares after its report, options showed.

While stock markets largely shrugged off Trump's move to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook on allegations of mortgage fraud, some small signs of stress are showing in bonds. Two-year Treasury yields were up just two points after sliding to 3.65% — their lowest since May — even as 30-year yields (^TYX) stay atop 4.9%.

On the trade front, the European Union is looking to fast-track the removal of tariffs on all US industrial goods, Bloomberg reported, clearing the way for an easing of duties on EU auto imports in return. Meanwhile, Trump's hefty 50% tariffs on Indian products kicked in on Wednesday, in reprisal for India's purchases of Russian oil. Crude prices oil (CL=F, BZ=F) held steady after a 2% slide the prior session.

Before the bell, Cracker Barrel (CBRL) stock continued to rise after the company bowed to calls from Trump and the public that it should never have scrapped its old logo.

US stocks traded mixed at the open of Wednesday's trading session as investors awaited Nvidia's (NVDA) highly anticipated earnings report after the bell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) inched up nearly 0.1%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell below the flat line and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) dipped 0.15%.

The mixed open comes on the heels of small gains for stocks on Wall Street Tuesday.

Bond yields continued to push higher on Wednesday following President Trump's move to oust Fed governor Lisa Cook, which was marked by a relatively tame market reaction.

While short-term yields slipped lower, concerns about eroding Fed independence and tariffs pushed long-run yields higher as fears grew that the pressure on the Fed could lead to inflation running hotter over time.

The 10-year yield (^TNX) moved up 3 basis points to 4.28%, while the 30-year yield (^TYX) rose 4 basis points to hold above 4.95%.

The Treasury yield curve also steepened to the highest level since April. The spread between the 2-year and 10-year yield now stands at 62 basis points.

Nvidia (NVDA) stock gained 0.5% in premarket trading ahead of its earnings release after the closing bell on Wednesday. The AI chipmaker will round out Big Tech earnings after a quarter of back-and-forth with the Trump administration.

Yahoo Finance's Daniel Howley notes that investors will be on the lookout for continued shipment scaling of Nvidia's GB200 super chip, the ramp of its upcoming Blackwell Ultra chip, AI spending, and commentary on China sales during the company's earnings call on Wednesday.

Options traders expect Nvidia's market value to swing about $260 billion after its second quarter earnings, suggesting investors feel more certain about the company's performance.

Read Dan's full preview of Nvidia earnings here.

Goldman Sachs expects the price of Brent (BZ=F) crude futures contracts to fall to the low $50s a barrel by late 2026, its analysts said in a note to clients.

An increase in the oil surplus next year will drive the decline from current levels, Goldman said, amid reduced demand in leading economies.

Oil prices steadied after Tuesday's steep drop as traders assessed the start of 50% US tariffs on Indian goods, a reprisal for its imports of Russian crude.

Indian government estimates suggest global crude prices could more than triple to around $200 a barrel if the country stops buying oil from Russia, Reuters reported.

Kohl's (KSS) raised its full-year profit forecast on Wednesday, in a sign that the department store chain's turnaround push is paying off.

Shares surged over 15% in premarket trading as investors welcomed the retailer's earnings report, which eased worries over Kohl's warning on Tuesday that it was seeking more time to pay vendors.

Kohl's has downsized its jewelry business among other moves to rein in costs, while it has also stepped up efforts to draw in shoppers during the key holiday season.

Reuters reports:

Kohl's expects annual earnings per share of 50 cents to 80 cents, compared with its earlier wide range of 10 cents to 60 cents.

\\"We were able to expand our gross margins, reduce our inventory, and lower our expenses, leading to solid second-quarter earnings,\\" said interim-CEO Michael Bender.

Kohl's second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 56 cents handily beat estimates of 29 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.

For the quarter ended August 2, comparable sales fell 4.2%, smaller than estimates of a 5% decline.

Economic data: MBA Mortgage Applications (week ending Aug. 22)

Earnings: Nvidia (NVDA), Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), CrowdStrike (CRWD), Five Below (FIVE), HP (HP), Kohl's (KSS), Pure Storage (PSTG), Snowflake (SNOW), The J.M. Smucker Company (SJM), Urban Outfitters (URBN), Williams-Sonoma (WSM)

Here are some of the biggest stories you may have missed overnight and early this morning:

Why stocks shrugged off Trump's boldest Fed move yet

Nvidia earnings on deck: High hopes, China risks

EU eyes fast-tracking the removal of all its US tariffs

Canada Goose stock pops on report of go-private bids

Goldman: Oil to fall to low $50s by late next year

Cracker Barrel stock jumps as company reverts to old logo

China seeks to triple output of AI chips in race with the US

Kohl's stock soars after raising annual profit target

Shares of Cracker Barrel (CBRL) are popping after the restaurant operator said it will revert to its old logo, after a redesign drew public backlash and a call for a rethink from President Trump.

Shares of the restaurant operator rose over 5% in premarket trading on Wednesday, having closed over 6% higher the prior session.

Cracker Barrel stock fell more than 14% last week after the company announced the fifth evolution of its logo to a more minimalist look, removing the image of Uncle Herschel.

Read more here.

It's a curious thing that the most aggressive move yet to influence the world's most important central bank resulted not in a raucous reaction in the market but a whimper, reports Yahoo Finance's Hamza Shaban.

He reports in today's Morning Brief:

Stocks on Tuesday barely budged. The 10-year (^TNX) meandered down a hair. And longer-dated US bond prices rose only slightly, even as concerns mounted that Trump's moves against the Federal Reserve's independence could stoke inflation and instability.

The reaction was nothing like the post-\\"Liberation Day\\" sell-off. Back then, the bond market strong-armed the president into backing away from his most punishing tariff policies.

But this time, as the president attempts to fire a Federal Reserve governor, Wall Street appears largely unbothered. What changed?

Part of the answer has to do with timing. Right now, in the short term, the interests of the three main players — the Fed, the president, and the market — are all very much aligned.

As economists Stephen Brown and Thomas Ryan from Capital Economics put it in a note on Tuesday, \\"It remains unclear whether Trump’s letter firing Cook, posted on social media [Monday], will have any practical effect on policy setting in the near term.\\" ...

But even when markets tolerate a legally dubious but aligned maneuver, what happens in the longer run should the Fed see itself remade as a political entity?

Read more here.

Shares of MongoDB (MDB) surged over 30% in premarket trading following surprising momentum in the database software provider's subscription revenue.

The company posted strong quarterly results on Tuesday, driven by accelerating revenue growth in its Atlas cloud database service and new customer acquisition.

In the second quarter, overall revenue rose 24% year over year to $591.4 million. MongoDB reported a loss per share of $0.58. Both metrics surpassed Wall Street's estimates for revenue of $553 million and a loss of $0.85 per share, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

\\"Many of our recently added customers are building AI applications, underscoring how our value proposition is resonating in the AI era and why MongoDB is emerging as a key component of the AI infrastructure stack,\\" MongoDB CEO Dev Ittycheria said.

Here's a look at some of the top stocks trending in premarket trading:

Cracker Barrel (CBRL) stock rose 6% before the bell on Wednesday after the company reverted back to its old logo due to consumer backlash and pressure from President Trump.

“We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel. We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our ‘old timer’ will remain,” the company said in a statement.

Okta (OKTA) stock rose more than 5% premarket after beating earnings estimates for its fourth-quarter earnings and lifting its full-year revenue outlook.

Snowflake (SNOW) shares rose 4% before the bell ahead of its earnings release on Wednesday. Analysts are expecting Snowflake's revenue to grow 25.4% year on year to $1.09 billion, slowing from the 28.9% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $0.27 per share.

MongoDB, Inc (MDB) stock soared by 30% before the bell on Wednesday, following the software company's strong earnings release on Tuesday. The group posted strong quarterly results on Tuesday, driven by accelerating revenue growth in the company's Atlas cloud database service and new customer acquisition.

I would keep an eye on PVH Corp. (PVH) this morning after a sizable earnings beat last night. The company also reiterated its full year earnings guidance, despite an expected $1.15 per share hit from tariffs.

The clothing company seems to have struck a positive nerve with recent apparel collaborations for Calvin Klein (Bad Bunny men's underwear) and F1 (Tommy Hilfiger collection, tied to Apple's (AAPL) F1 movie).

It has more deals in the works, CEO Stefan Larsson told me last night by phone.

A new women's underwear tie-up with a \\"huge\\" female music artist. That will drop soon, Larsson told me.

A new line of F1 gear inspired by Cadillac's new entry into the sport.

I also thought his comments on tariffs were interesting:

\\"Tariffs are impacting everyone in the sector. We have 70% of our business in international, 30% is the U.S. Then we have the strength of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, which really matters, meaning we have two of the most beloved brands in the market where we, for a number of years now, have leaned into the PVH platform, where we drive product strength, consumer engagement strength and strength in the marketplace, execution to drive growth with pricing power. So that will matter to us.\\"

Correction fears have caused a number of Chinese stock brokers to put cash limits on purchase amounts in hopes of reducing exposure.

Bloomberg reports:

In the first such public move, Shanghai-based Sinolink Securities Co. raised its margin deposit ratio on new client financing contracts for some securities to 100%, according to a posted notice. China last approved a cut in the ratio to 80% from 100% in September 2023.

Meanwhile, a number of domestic mutual fund houses this week imposed daily purchasing restrictions on some of the year’s best performing portfolios. On Wednesday, the feeder fund for the GF Star Growth Index ETF proceeded to cap buying at just 100 yuan ($14), one of the most drastic limits yet during this rally.

The Sinolink margin increase was prompted by concern over potential losses for clients should there be a correction after the recent sharp rise in the stock market, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations.

Read more here.