US STOCKS-Wall St set for higher open as Nvidia eyes $5 trillion; Fed cut in sight

By Pranav Kashyap and Twesha Dikshit

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Wall Street was poised for a higher open on Wednesday as Nvidia inched closer to a $5 trillion valuation, while investors awaited an expected Federal Reserve rate cut and a wave of Big Tech results.

Shares of Nvidia NVDA.O rose 3.3% in premarket trading after CEO Jensen Huang announced $500 billion in AI chip orders and plans to build seven supercomputers for the U.S. government.

The stock has jumped about 50% so far this year, and been among the top boosts to U.S. equities in 2025. Apple AAPL.O briefly topped $4 trillion in market cap on Tuesday, while Microsoft MSFT.O trades above that level.

"Nvidia has an undeniably strong position in the AI chipset market and deals with a range of firms. Investors continue to enthuse about the AI theme and remain fascinated by the rate of spending," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

At 08:24 a.m., Dow E-minis YMcv1 were up 58 points, or 0.12%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 16.5 points, or 0.24% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 106.5 points, or 0.41%.

The three major indexes have hit a series of record highs in recent days, driven by optimism around artificial intelligence, positive earnings momentum and expectations of rate cuts from the U.S. central bank.

Alphabet GOOGL.O gained 0.4%, with Meta META.O and Microsoft MSFT.O up over 0.3% each, as they head into post‑close earnings.

Market participants will seek justification for Big Tech's towering valuations, with particular focus on whether heavy AI spending is likely to continue or not.

Meanwhile, Boeing BA.N fell nearly 1% after the planemaker reported a charge of nearly $5 billion related to delays in its 777X jet program, while Caterpillar CAT.N shares rose 4.9% after beating third-quarter profit expectations.

With results in from 180 of the S&P 500 companies, third-quarter earnings are estimated to have increased 10.5% from the year-ago period, above earlier estimates for the quarter, according to data compiled by LSEG as of Tuesday.

FED OUTLOOK, TRADE DEALS EYED

The Fed is widely expected to trim rates by a quarter of a percentage point later in the day.

After nearly a month of a U.S. government shutdown that has kept key economic data under wraps, investors will hunt for clues on the Fed's rate path after leaning on private surveys and corporate announcements to fill the void.

Investors will also keep an eye on any plans to end the central bank's "quantitative tightening" policy - a long-running effort to shrink its balance sheet.

Traders expect another quarter-point cut in December.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump began the final leg of his Asia trip, saying he had reached a deal with South Korea and was optimistic about an agreement with China's Xi Jinping. Talks between the two counterparts are set for Thursday in the port city of Busan.

Among other stock moves, Verizon VZ.N rose 4% after beating estimates for quarterly profit and wireless subscriber additions.

Centene Corporation CNC.N posted a surprise third-quarter profit, sending shares jumping 9.7%.

Seagate Technology STX.O shares rose 6.4% after the company forecast second-quarter earnings above Wall Street estimates.

Peers Sandisk SNDK.O rose 6.4%, while Western Digital WDC.O gained 4.9%

Mondelez International MDLZ.O cut its annual profit forecast on Tuesday, sending the Cadbury maker's shares down 4.8%, while Fiserv FI.N slumped 37% after lowering its annual earnings forecasts for the second consecutive quarter.