Australia

Australian shares are set to open lower, while U.S. stocks edged slightly higher as traders awaited earnings from Nvidia on Wednesday.

ASX futures were down 0.36% or 29 points as of 8:00am on Wednesday, suggesting a lower open.

U.S. stock indexes eked out gains ahead of this week's main event for investors: Nvidia earnings on Wednesday afternoon.

The S&P 500 edged up 0.2%, not far off its record high. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ticked 0.2% higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended flat.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil was down 1.9% to US$79.85 a barrel, while gold was flat at US$2,525.26.

The Australian dollar was at 67.92 US cents, up from its previous close of 67.71.

Asia

Chinese shares closed lower. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2% to 2,848.73, and the Shenzhen Composite Index slipped 1.3% to 1,493.43.

Hong Kong shares ended higher. The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 0.4% to 17,874.67.

Japanese shares closed higher. The Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.5% to 38,288.62.

India shares ended flat. The BSE SENSEX closed at 81,711.76.

Europe

Stocks in the U.K. finished higher. The FTSE 100 Index rose 0.2% to 8,345.46.

In Europe, shares closed mixed. Germany's DAX gained 0.3% to 18,681.81, and France's CAC 40 fell 0.3% to 7,565.78.

North America

U.S. stocks ended higher. The DJIA was flat at 41,250.50, the S&P 500 added 0.2% to 5,625.80, and the Nasdaq gained 0.2% to 17,754.82.

Among S&P 500 companies, the top three gainers were ResMed Inc, surging 7.26%, Insulet Corp jumped 6.58%, and Royal Caribbean Group lifted 4.30%.

The biggest decliners were Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc which dropped 8.82%, Paramount Global fell 7.00%, and Martin Marietta Materials Inc lost 4.57%.