The Japan Times - Stock markets gain, dollar higher before Nvidia earnings

London was up 0.2 percent in late morning deals as a 20-percent surge in the share price of accounting-software group Sage following strong earnings and outlook helped offset news of a fresh jump to UK inflation.

Traders were keenly awaiting Wednesday's release of earnings from US chip behemoth Nvidia, which many see as a bellwether of the tech sector and artificial-intelligence demand that have helped power Wall Street to multiple record-highs this year.

They were assessing also the prospect of an escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war, Donald Trump's second presidency and the outlook for US interest rates.

"One of the most highly anticipated days of the earnings season, if not the most, the Nvidia earnings day, is finally here," noted Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

"It's hard to say that good results will lead to a good market reaction. Last quarter, the blowout results and solid outlook weren't necessarily enough to boost the share price after the earnings announcement," she added.

Investors are treading carefully this week amid uncertainty after Trump's re-election and as he picks his cabinet, with several China hawks up for key positions fanning worries of another trade war between the economic superpowers.

The tycoon has pledged to ramp up tariffs on imports, with China particularly in his sights, but observers warn that such a move -- along with planned tax cuts -- could relight still stubborn inflation.

That has dampened hopes for several interest-rate cuts next year from the US Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine has burst back into the thoughts of traders as Moscow vowed to react "accordingly" after saying Kyiv had fired its first US-made long-range missile into Russian territory.

Washington this week said it had cleared Kyiv to use the US-supplied Army Tactical Missile System against military targets inside Russia -- a long-standing Ukrainian request.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the attack showed Western countries wanted to "escalate" the conflict, adding that "we will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia".

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree Tuesday lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons, which the White House, Britain and the European Union called "irresponsible".

Despite worries over the conflict, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose for a second straight session in New York on Tuesday.

- Key figures around 1045 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 8,110.52 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,246.75

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 19,121.09

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 38,352.34 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 19,705.01 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,367.99 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 43,268.94 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0549 from $1.0599 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2661 from $1.2682

Dollar/yen: UP at 155.81 yen from 154.67 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.33 pence from 83.54 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $73.53 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $69.50 per barrel

T.Shimizu--JT