US equities reverse losses as inflation data, key earnings report loom

Nvidia is scheduled to report its Q4 earnings on Wednesday afternoon

February 24, 2025 04:00 pm

Nvidia founder Jensen Huang | jamesonwu1972/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

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US equities erased some of last week’s losses Monday as investors looked ahead to more fourth quarter earnings reports and a key inflation print this week.

Nvidia is scheduled to report its Q4 earnings on Wednesday afternoon. After months of trading sideways, it’s reasonable to think investors will be looking for any sign to bet again on the chipmaker. On the other hand, the days of Nvidia having little competition are long over.

Either way, Wednesday’s report will move markets across the board.

January’s PCE report, which drops Friday morning, is even more important now that other inflation measures have come in hot for the beginning of the year. We’re looking at you, PPI and CPI.

Still, it’s hard for us to believe the reading will be hot enough to sway the Fed. We think this pause will last a bit longer.

Stocks have, for the most part, remained impressively resilient amid widespread uncertainty. Investors are faced with looming tariff policies and the latest data is starting to poke holes in the “economic growth is still strong” theory, which complicates the Fed’s stance.

The facade did start to crack late last week when the S&P 500 posted its worst daily decline of 2025 on Friday. Analysts largely attribute the growth to disappointing data in the US and overseas. The Philly Fed Manufacturing index released on Thursday showed expansion fell to 18.1 this month from 44.3 in January. The flash Eurozone PMI also came in softer than expected.

Still, the VIX is at a healthy 17.8, suggesting volatility is not terribly high. We’ll see what happens this week.

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