A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Tom

Westbrook

Nvidia ( NVDA ) is holding the investment world in thrall

ahead of an earnings report later today that, even if it

delivers the expected doubling of second-quarter revenue, may

not satisfy investors accustomed to market-moving

outperformance.

The chipmaker's market value was around $390 billion on the

eve of the launch of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot,

ChatGPT, less than two years ago.

Now it is nearly $3.2 trillion, and in June it swaggered,

briefly, to a turn as the most valuable company on earth,

powered by chips that provide the hardware behind the AI

computing boom.

Sheer size and its position as an industry bellwether mean

its earnings, due after the U.S. close on Wednesday, can move

the entire market.

Trade in Asia was light and moves modest ahead of the

release, and European equity futures were flat.

Europe's data and reporting calendar is mostly bare, with

Eurozone broad money growth seen rising to 2.7%, while markets

are focused on Nvidia's ( NVDA ) results ahead of European and U.S.

inflation measures due later in the week.

Options prices show traders have braced for a near 10% swing

in Nvidia's ( NVDA ) shares when they trade on Thursday, translating in

dollar terms to more than $300 billion in market value - likely

the largest ever market move on an earnings report.

That would dwarf the market capitalisation of 95% of S&P 500

constituents, according to LSEG data, and probably send

shockwaves through the global semiconductor sector.

Elsewhere, sterling sat near a 2-1/2 year high on

Wednesday as one of the biggest beneficiaries of a slide in the

dollar. Traders anticipate about 100 basis points of U.S.

interest rate cuts this year against only 40 bps in Britain.

As the markets await Nvidia's ( NVDA ) turn at centre stage, fans of

Oasis, which signed its first record deal in 1993 just a few

weeks after Nvidia's ( NVDA ) founding, can join the scramble for

Mancunian hotel rooms after the announcement of planned Oasis

reunion shows next year.

Key developments that could influence markets on Wednesday:

Earnings: Nvidia ( NVDA )

Economics: Eurozone M3 growth, French unemployment