NEW YORK, May 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street edged higher and U.S. Treasury yields dipped on Tuesday amid the doldrums ahead of a holiday weekend and a lack of market catalysts to spark conviction one way or the other.
All three major U.S. stock indexes were nominally green in a choppy session, with semiconductor stocks weighing ahead of Nvidia Corp's quarterly results expected tomorrow.
"A lot of people are just waiting for Nvidia to report," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield, Connecticut. "And it shouldn’t have a broad effect, but it will, it will influence on how the market trades."
"There’s been so much emphasis placed on AI, every company seems to be talking about incorporating it into their operations," Pavlik added.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Tuesday calmed fears of a rate hike, saying recent economic data indicate the Fed's restrictive policy is working as directed.
Atlanta Fed Chair Raphael Bostic said the central bank needs to exercise caution ahead of its first rate cut to provoke pent-up spending and send inflation "bouncing around."
Minutes from the Federal Open Markets Committee's (FOMC) most recent monetary policy are due to be released on Wednesday, and they will be parsed for clues regarding timing and extent of policy easing this year.
"(The Fed) is willing to think about rate cuts but we’re not there yet, those are the same thoughts we took away from their last meeting," Pavlik said. "It's akin to asking your parents to take you to Disney World and they say ‘we'll think about it.’ At least they’re not saying ‘no.’"
Markets currently factor in about 41 basis points of Fed rate reductions this year, with a quarter-point cut fully priced in for November.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 18.34 points, or 0.05%, to 39,825.11, the S&P 500 gained 4.38 points, or 0.08%, to 5,312.51 and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.81 points, or 0.06%, to 16,804.68.
European shares ended modestly lower, easing back from record highs as investors, cautious over central bank policy, awaited economic data.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.18% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.14%.
Emerging market stocks lost 0.81%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.93% lower, while Japan's Nikkei lost 0.31%.
U.S. Treasury yields dipped as investors awaited the Fed minutes, eager for any clues regarding the timing of rate cuts.
Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 7/32 in price to yield 4.412%, from 4.437% late on Friday.
The 30-year bond last rose 11/32 in price to yield 4.5529%, from 4.573% late on Friday.
The dollar was last nominally higher against a basket of world currencies, after investors parsed commentary of Fed officials.
The dollar index rose 0.07%, with the euro down 0.03% to $1.0852.
The Japanese yen strengthened 0.03% versus the greenback at 156.23 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.2708, up 0.03% on the day.
Cryptocurrencies climbed amid signs that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may approve a spot ether exchange-traded fund.
Ethereum was last up 6.4%, while bitcoin was up 0.3%, well off its earlier highs.
Oil prices dipped, extending losses as the prospect of lingering inflation and "higher for longer" interest rates raised concerns over dampening demand.
U.S. crude dipped 0.68% to settle at $79.26 per barrel and Brent settled at $82.88 per barrel, down 0.99% on the day.
Gold prices backed away from a all-time high as the greenback held its ground.
Spot gold dropped 0.2% to $2,419.33 an ounce.
(Reporting by Stephen Culp; Additional reporting by Kevin Buckland and Lawrence White in London; Editing by Will Dunham and Nick Zieminski)
