By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) -Wall Street's main indexes were flat on Tuesday as caution prevailed ahead of a highly anticipated earnings report from Nvidia and key economic data expected later in the week.
The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq see-sawed between marginal gains and losses, with focus on the upcoming quarterly report from AI chip firm Nvidia that is due on Wednesday.
The chip designer's shares reversed early losses in choppy trading and were last up 1.1%. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index rose 0.4%.
Nvidia is likely to report that its quarterly revenue more than doubled and even a slight miss could affect megacap growth stocks that have spearheaded the recent bull-market rally.
"Most of the nervousness is waiting around for Nvidia. The high expectations have generally been met, but it's going to be a good read through to how robust AI is," said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor and market strategist for Murphy & Sylvest.
At 11:33 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 81.17 points, or 0.20%, at 41,159.35, the S&P 500 was down 1.91 points, or 0.03%, at 5,614.93, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 5.56 points, or 0.03%, at 17,720.21.
Tech stocks led sectoral gains with a 0.3% rise. However, gains on the benchmark S&P 500 were limited by a 0.8% decline in consumer discretionary shares, weighed down by a 1.6% fall in Amazon.com.
The blue-chip Dow had closed at a record high on Monday, for the first time in more than a month, on optimism about lower borrowing costs starting next month following U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's endorsement last week.
Traders are now betting on either a 25-basis point or a 50-basis point interest rate cut in September. Odds of the former stand at a higher 65.5%, while those of a 50-bps cut are at 34.5%, according to CME Group's Fed Watch tool.
Analysts say the next major catalyst will most likely be the July Personal Consumption Expenditure data due on Friday.
Meanwhile, UBS Global Wealth Management raised the odds of a U.S. recession to 25% from 20%, citing weakness in the labor market.
Paramount Global slid 5.6% after Edgar Bronfman Jr. abandoned his bid for the company, clearing the way for Skydance Media to take control of Shari Redstone's media empire.
Tesla extended declines from the previous session and fell 2% after Canada said it will impose a 100% tariff on the imports of Chinese electric vehicles. The duties apply to all EVs shipped from China, which would include those made by Tesla.
Super Micro Computer lost 3.1% after short seller Hindenburg Research said it had a short position in the AI server maker.
The PHLX Housing index lost 1.4% after data showed single-family home prices fell in June as higher mortgage rates weighed on demand.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.69-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.09-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 38 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 41 new lows.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
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