US stocks steady; Nvidia pares back losses

U.S. stocks steadied on Wednesday, as Wall Street attempted to bounce back from sharp losses seen in the previous session that were fueled economic slowdown concerns. 

At 11:23 EST (15:23 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 121 points, or 0.3%, the S&P 500 had increased by 9 points, or 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite had inched up by 26 points, or 0.2%.

The main Wall Street indices suffered a sharp selloff on Tuesday as U.S. investors returned from the Labor Day holiday, on the back of disappointing manufacturing activity data that fueled worries over the economic outlook. Nvidia pares back losses

Shares in Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA ) were marginally higher in early US trading, paring back earlier losses, after Bloomberg News reported that the company had been sent a subpoena by the US Department of Justice as part of a deepening probe into its artificial intelligence chip market dominance.

 Nvidia shares had fallen 1% in premarket trade.

The volatility in the market is palpable as investors await the crucial U.S. jobs report due on Friday, which is anticipated to provide insights into the American economy's health and potentially influence the Federal Reserve's pace in adjusting interest rates.

Ahead of the jobs report, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey , which economists consider to be a proxy for broader labor demand, is due later in the session and is tipped to show that the number of available roles decreased in July to 8.090 million.

In June, the number inched down modestly to 8.184 million. Corporate earnings continue

In individual stock movements, Zscaler (NASDAQ:ZS ) shares dropped despite suggestions that its outlook might be conservative.

Asana (NYSE:ASAN ) stock fell after reporting a challenging quarter and announcing a change in its CFO. Pagerduty (NYSE:PD ) also saw its shares decline by after reducing its revenue forecast.

On a positive note, Clover Health Investments Corp (NASDAQ:CLOV ) shares gained as its Counterpart Unit secured a contract from the Iowa Clinic, and Gitlab (NASDAQ:GTLB ) stock increased by following strong results and an uplifted forecast.

Market participants are holding their breath for the upcoming August U.S. jobs report , which is expected to play a key role in the Federal Reserve's decision on whether to implement a rate cut of 25 basis points or 50 on September 18. Crude slips on growth concerns

Crude prices slipped lower Wednesday, adding to the previous session’s selloff, amid growth concerns and expectations that Libyan exports could reenter the market.

By 09:35 ET, the Brent contract dropped 0.8% to $73.15 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 0.8% lower at $69.80 a barrel, after both contracts dropped more than 4% on Tuesday.

Both contracts fell to their lowest since December on signs of a deal to resolve the political dispute between rival factions in Libya that cut output by about half and curbed exports.

Senad Karaahmetovic and Scott Kanowsky contributed to this article.

Source: Investing.com