Global stocks mixed as cautious investors wait for key US inflation data and more earnings after Nvidia's miss

• Global stocks were mixed Tuesday, with US futures edging up, as investors count down to US inflation data.
• If CPI data due Wednesday fails to show a drop, it could take the wind out of stocks, an analyst said.

US futures rose slightly in subdued trading Tuesday, but stocks in Europe and Asia were mixed as investors counted down to a key US inflation reading, with the earnings season entering its home stretch.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.14% and S&P 500 futures added 0.13% in premarket trading. But Nasdaq futures struggled to hold onto earlier gains, down 0.04% after closing lower Monday as chipmaker Nvidia's lackluster sales dragged down tech stocks.

Investors are treading cautiously, with trading volume low ahead of Wednesday's release of the consumer price index reading for July. A drop from the 41-year-high of 9.1% hit in June could signal that US inflation has peaked, giving the Federal Reserve a reason to dial down its aggressive interest rate hikes.

"The inflation data on Wednesday could effectively set the mood for the rest of the summer," Oanda senior market analyst Craig Erlam said.

"That seems quite dramatic. But if we fail to see a drop in the headline rate, considering the acceleration we're expected to see in the core, it could really take the wind out of the sails of stock markets, as it would be very difficult for the Fed to then hike by anything less than 75 basis points in September," he said.

Also in focus are corporate earnings, after Nvidia slashed its second-quarter revenue guidance Monday. That weighed on hopes for tech and gaming stocks and underlined the likelihood the US economy is slowing.

"[Nvidia] sent up a warning flare that Q2 earnings are likely to fall short of expectations, as its gaming business begins to feel the weight of consumer cutbacks," AJ Bell analyst Danni Hewson said, pointing to the return to normal life after pandemic lockdowns.

Coinbase and Roblox are set to report after the bell Tuesday.

In Europe, the flagship Stoxx 600 fell 0.33% thanks to worries about the continent's energy crisis, which helped pull Frankfurt's DAX 40 lower by 0.56%. Paris's CAC 40 slipped 0.17%, but London's FTSE 100 was up 0.09% after a top policymaker said the Bank of England will likely need to hike interest rates again.

The major Asian stock markets were also mixed. The Shanghai Composite put on 0.32% as China continued its military exercises in Taiwan, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.21%. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 dropped 0.88%.

Here's how other assets are performing:

• Oil prices continued to fall, amid worries about demand during the slowdown and with US-Iran nuclear talks progressing. Brent crude was down 0.6% to $96.07 a barrel, and WTI crude slid 0.9% to $89.97 a barrel.
• Bond yields rose slightly with US 10-year yields at 2.797%.
• Cryptocurrencies lost more momentum as bitcoin tumbled 1.9% to $23,605, and ethereum dropped 2.6% to $1,753.