US stocks continue quiet trading ahead of FOMC minutes

US stock indexes are drifting around their records, with the S&P 500 remaining virtually unchanged. Target tumbled 7.4% after reporting profit for the latest quarter that fell short of analysts’ expectations, and forecasted ranges for upcoming profit fell below analysts’ estimates.

Nvidia’s headline profit report will come after trading closes for the day, when analysts expect Nvidia to deliver its latest blockbuster quarter of growth due to surging demand for chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Nvidia’s stock has grown into the third largest on Wall Street, making it one of the most influential stocks in the market.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were rising ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting. Some reports showing softening in inflation and some parts of the US economy have rekindled hopes that the Fed will be able to cut its main interest rate at least once this year. However, Fed officials still need to see months more of improving data before they could lower the federal funds rate from its highest level in more than two decades.

High rates have made everything from credit-card bills to auto-loan payments more expensive, and mortgage rates are also high. Central banks around the world seem eager to cut interest rates, but “they may not go far” given how well economies are doing and how high inflation still is. Only shallow cuts to interest rates are expected, which may also come later than financial markets forecast.

Lululemon Athletica sank 6.5% after its chief product officer, Sun Choe, left the company to pursue another opportunity. TJX, an off-price retailer of apparel and home goods, rose 6.3% after topping profit expectations and raising its forecast for earnings per share over the full year.