Stocks steady as crude rebounds, Nvidia lifts chip sector

Global shares held their ground on Thursday as strong earnings from chip giant Nvidia prepared the ground for a firmer start on Wall Street.

Oil prices recouped ground lost in earlier sessions, while the dollar index rose to is highest in nearly seven weeks, before later easing, as traders stuck to the view the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep raising rates by a quarter of a point at its next three meetings.

Better-than-expected revenue at Nvidia (NVDA.O) after hours sent its shares up 9% on Wall Street, helping to push Nasdaq futures 1% higher on Thursday, along with shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW), and European peers such as ASM International (ASMI.AS) and BE Semiconductor (BESI.AS).

The MSCI all country share index (.MIWD00000PUS) was barely firmer as the year’s 4.5% advance stalled.

In Europe, the STOXX (.STOXX) index of leading European companies was 0.3% higher, consolidating its 8.8% gain for the year to nearly wiping out much of last year’s 13% loss.

Nearly all Fed policymakers backed further slowing the pace of rate hikes, minutes of the U.S. central bank’s last policy meeting showed on Wednesday, but it also indicated that curbing unacceptably high inflation would be the “key factor” in how much further rates need to rise.

This report’s information was first seen on REUTERS; to read more, click this link.