The China Mail - Stocks steadier before key Nvidia results as oil slides

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose in New York, while most European stock markets closed marginally lower. Oil prices slumped, while Bitcoin held around $90,000 after a six-week slide and the dollar strengthened.

"The selling pressure had moderated from Monday (but) investors were unwilling to add to their overall exposure ahead of tonight's earnings update from chip giant Nvidia," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

Investors have endured a tough November as speculation has grown that the tech-led rally this year may have gone too far, and valuations have become frothy enough to warrant a stiff correction.

With the Magnificent Seven -- also including Amazon, Meta, Alphabet and Apple -- powering recent record highs on Wall Street, there are worries that a change in sentiment could have huge ripple effects on markets.

Chip giant Nvidia is the biggest of the bunch, last month becoming the first $5-trillion company, and will report third-quarter results after the market shuts.

"The slightest bit of news to disappoint investors has the potential to whip up a tornado across global markets," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Nvidia shares were up 2 percent in late morning trading in New York.

Wall Street's S&P 500 has dropped four days in a row, with investors nervous that any sign of weakness could be the pin that pops the artificial intelligence bubble, having spent months fearing that the hundreds of billions invested may have been excessive.

A Bank of America survey of fund managers found that more than half thought AI stocks were already in a bubble and 45 percent thought that to be the biggest "tail risk" to markets, more so than inflation.

That came after the BBC released an interview with the head of Google's parent company Alphabet -- Sundar Pichai -- who warned every company would be hit if the AI bubble were to burst.

Investors will also be looking at the Federal Reserve's release later Wednesday of its minutes from its late October meeting for clues on the direction of interest rates.

Target blamed sluggish consumer spending for its disappointing report early Wednesday and more indications of the state of the real economy will come from Walmart's earnings expected Thursday morning. Target shares were down 1 percent.

In Paris, Air France shares were up 3 percent after officially expressing interest in taking a stake in Portuguese carrier TAP.

Oil prices fell sharply as reports of higher US reserves outweighed any concern over Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil installations.

- Key figures at around 1640 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 45,970.07 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,635.03

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 22,567.03

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.5 percent at 9,507.41 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,953.77 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 23,162.92 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 48,537.70 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.4 percent at 25,830.65 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 3,946.74 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1540 from $1.1580

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3074 from $1.3146

Dollar/yen: UP at 156.65 yen from 155.53 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 88.24 from 88.09 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.2 percent at $63.49 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.3 percent at $59.39 per barrel

W.Tam--ThChM