Nvidia posted much stronger results than Wall Street expected, but the wider market drifted lower on a hotter inflation reading.

• Nvidia's quarterly sales more than doubled from a year ago and beat forecasts, with even bigger sales guided for the current quarter.
• The three main US indexes ended slightly lower, and Nvidia itself fell before the numbers came out.
• A key US inflation gauge rose a bit more than expected, though the core reading stripping out food and gas came in on target.
• Nvidia is now the most valuable company in the S&P 500, worth over $5 trillion, so its results set the tone for the whole market.
• Chip names were mixed: TSMC's US-listed shares and the Philadelphia semiconductor index edged up, AMD rose, Broadcom slipped.

Outlook: Attention turns to Fed chair Warsh's speech at the Fed's annual conference, though he may stay quiet ahead of September's rate decision.