SPX: S&P 500 Retreats for Third Day in a Row as Traders Shift Focus to Nvidia Earnings

SPX −0.67% Key points: Stocks walk back some gains Markets eye Nvidia earnings Higher bond yields rattle sentiment Bond yields rose Tuesday, keeping stock traders on their toes. 📉 Bonds Flex, Stocks Flinch Wall Street spent Tuesday staring at the bond market. Rising Treasury yields — basically the interest the US government pays investors — pressured stocks, dragging the S&P 500 down 0.7% and the Nasdaq lower by 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 322 points, extending the market’s recent stumble into a third straight session of declines. Not exactly panic-selling territory, but enough to remind traders that gravity still exists, even in AI-land. Higher bond yields can weigh a lot because they make safer assets more attractive and increase borrowing costs. That’s especially painful for high-growth tech companies whose valuations are built on future earnings. Suddenly, “profits someday” becomes a harder sell. 🤖 Nvidia Becomes the Main Event Now comes the big one: Nvidia earnings after Wednesday’s closing bell. The chip giant is the last of the Magnificent Seven to report this season, and traders are treating it like the Super Bowl of AI investing. Investors want fresh proof that the artificial-intelligence spending frenzy is still alive and well. Nvidia’s results are expected to offer the clearest read yet on demand for AI chips, data-center capex, and whether hyperscalers are still throwing money at anything labeled “AI.” The stakes are enormous because Nvidia has effectively become the market’s emotional-support semiconductor. If results impress, bulls will call the dip temporary. If guidance disappoints, suddenly those record highs from earlier this month may start feeling very far away. 🏦 Fed Minutes on Deck Too Traders are also waiting for minutes from the Federal Reserve’s April meeting, due Wednesday. The notes could offer clues on how worried policymakers are about sticky inflation, rising oil prices, and the possibility of keeping rates elevated for longer. Elevated rates remain the market’s favorite buzzkill. When interest rates stay high, borrowing becomes more expensive, consumer spending can cool, and richly valued stocks tend to lose some shine. Translation: traders want cuts, but the Fed still looks cautious. Elsewhere on the earnings calendar, companies including Lowe's, Target and Hasbro are also reporting results.