US stocks fall as markets gird for key business earnings

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks slipped early Monday as traders braced for key earnings reports from chip titan Nvidia and major US retailers.

After the longest government shutdown in US history, which put various economic data reports on hold, markets are also waiting for backlogged numbers to again start flowing – to gauge the health of the world’s biggest economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2 percent to 47,033.52 shortly after trading began, while the S&P 500 Index pulled back 0.3 percent to 6,711.92.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.2 percent to 22,847.54.

This week, traders will be looking forward to minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent policy meeting as they assess the likelihood of further interest rate cuts.

Wall Street Week Ahead: Skittish tech stock investors turn to Nvidia results for next cues

Besides Nvidia, US retailers including Home Depot, Target and Walmart are also set to release their earnings reports, which will be monitored for signs of how consumers are faring as President Donald Trump’s tariffs bite.

Government data on how the labor market fared in September is also set for publication on Thursday.

“It’ll be the first glimpse of some macro news” that could provide hints on the Fed’s preferred path for interest rates moving forward, said Peter Cardillo from Spartan Capital Securities.

Among companies, he added that “it’s all up to Nvidia, whether or not it can turn the souring negative sentiment on the AI sector.”