Dow Holds Steady as Meta Settles $16.7B Lawsuit, Markets Await Nvidia Earnings and Inflation Data

NEW YORK — The Dow Jones Industrial Average was roughly flat Wednesday, edging up just 15.42 points, or 0.029%, to 53,592.82 as of 9:55 a.m. EDT, as investors digested a fresh inflation reading and braced for Nvidia's highly anticipated earnings report due after the closing bell, a release widely viewed as a key barometer for the broader artificial intelligence trade.

U.S. stocks traded largely flat Wednesday morning following the release of the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, which showed inflation remained sticky heading into the central bank's Jackson Hole gathering later this week. According to Yahoo Finance, the S&P 500 dipped just below the flat line while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%, pulling back modestly after posting broad gains during Tuesday's session. Economists had expected core PCE inflation to hold steady at 3.3% for the month, unchanged from the prior reading, according to AOL's markets coverage.

One notable mover Wednesday morning was Meta Platforms, whose shares jumped in early trading after the company agreed to settle a major social media addiction trial for approximately $16.7 billion. According to Yahoo Finance, the case centered on allegations brought by 29 states that Meta had designed its products specifically to hook young users, misled consumers regarding platform safety, and improperly collected personal data from minors. The settlement resolves what had been one of the most closely watched pieces of litigation targeting the social media industry over child safety concerns.

Wednesday's session followed a stronger showing Tuesday, when the Dow notched its third consecutive winning session, closing up 160.24 points, or 0.3%, at 53,577.40, according to CNBC. The S&P 500 rose 0.32% Tuesday to close at 7,677.28, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.66% to 26,151.30, buoyed by a rally in semiconductor stocks as investors positioned ahead of Nvidia's results. Treasury yields extended their decline for a second consecutive day Tuesday, with the benchmark 10-year yield falling more than 7 basis points to 4.625%, continuing a retreat that began Monday after CNBC reported the Treasury Department could tap its roughly $1 trillion General Account to help fund its ongoing bond-repurchase program. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped more than 3% during Tuesday's session.

Nvidia shares rose 2% ahead of Wednesday's results, snapping a seven-day losing streak that had weighed on the broader technology sector heading into the report, according to Yahoo Finance. The chipmaker's quarterly earnings have increasingly become a closely watched market event, functioning as a real-time gauge of investor confidence in the durability of the broader AI infrastructure buildout. Expectations heading into the release remain elevated, with investors increasingly focused not just on Nvidia's revenue growth but on companies' broader ability to generate tangible returns on their massive AI-related capital investments.

Tuesday's gains came even as trade tensions between the United States and Canada continued escalating. According to Yahoo Finance, investors largely brushed aside concerns over new U.S. trade measures against Canada, even as Canada's Finance Department announced retaliatory tariffs in response to the 50% duties the Trump administration imposed on Canadian goods over the weekend. That trade dispute followed the breakdown of negotiations between the two countries and has continued to simmer in the background of broader market sentiment this week.

Separate economic data released Tuesday pointed to growing pressure on American consumers. Both new home sales and a measure of consumer confidence fell to their lowest levels since January, according to Yahoo Finance, as elevated cost-of-living pressures continued weighing on household spending decisions. That data adds further context ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's keynote address at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium later this week, a speech markets are watching closely for signals regarding the central bank's approach to interest rates under its new leadership.

Retail and consumer-facing stocks also factored prominently into Tuesday's trading. DICK'S Sporting Goods shares sank 30% after the retailer missed second-quarter expectations and slashed its full-year outlook, citing challenging conditions across the broader athletic footwear and apparel marketplace, according to Yahoo Finance. Software companies including Intuit and nuclear energy company Oklo were also among the names reporting earnings this week, providing investors with additional reads on the health of the technology and energy sectors respectively as the busy end-of-August earnings stretch continues.

Wednesday's inflation data arrives at a particularly sensitive moment for markets given the confluence of upcoming catalysts. Beyond Nvidia's earnings and Wednesday's PCE reading, the market's attention remains squarely fixed on Warsh's Friday appearance at Jackson Hole, an event that will mark his first major public address since taking over as Fed chairman. Investors are looking for clarity on both the central bank's near-term policy trajectory and Warsh's broader communication style, given his reputation for offering less conventional forward guidance than some of his predecessors.

With Nvidia's results due after Wednesday's closing bell, alongside continued monitoring of the U.S.-Canada trade dispute and mounting anticipation ahead of Warsh's Jackson Hole remarks, investors are likely to see continued volatility across markets through the remainder of the week as each new data point and corporate report gets weighed against the broader, still-unresolved questions surrounding both the durability of the AI-driven technology rally and the path of Federal Reserve policy heading into the fall.