5 things to know before the stock market opens Wednesday, August 28

Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:

All three major averages closed slightly higher on Tuesday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both gained 0.16%, with the broad market index finishing at 5,625.80 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq ending at 17,754.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also moved higher, rising 0.02% to close out the session at 41,250.50. That marks the blue-chip index’s second record close in a row. Follow live market updates.

All eyes are on Nvidia ahead of its quarterly results Wednesday after the bell. While the stock’s current rally has put it less than 10% off its all-time high, its volatility earlier in the year is at the forefront for investors heading into the results. Since the end of 2022, its market cap has increased by roughly nine times its value, hitting a record in June and even briefly passing Microsoft to become the world’s most valuable public company. “It’s the most important stock in the world right now,” EMJ Capital’s Eric Jackson recently told CNBC’s “Closing Bell.” “If they lay an egg, it would be a major problem for the whole market. I think they’re going to surprise to the upside.” According to analysts surveyed by LSEG, Nvidia is projected to post triple-digit growth for a fourth straight quarter, though it’s expected to move at a reduced pace of 112% to $28.7 billion.

It’s a touchdown for private equity members. On Tuesday, owners of the National Football League voted in favor of letting select private equity firms buy up to a 10% stake of a team, and each fund or consortium will be able to do deals with up to six teams. Of the 32 franchise owners, 31 approved the measure, with Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown voting against it, according to a person familiar with the vote. The firms that have been approved so far are Ares Management, Sixth Street Partners and Arctos Partners as well as a consortium labeled “The Avengers,” which includes Dynasty Equity, Blackstone, Carlyle Group, CVC Capital Partners and Ludis.

It’s a new record for home prices. On Tuesday, they reached the highest level ever on the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, even amid rising mortgage interest rates. According to the latest data, on a three-month running average ended in June, prices across the country were 5.4% higher than they were in June of last year. However, the gain was still smaller than the 5.9% seen in May. “While both housing and inflation have slowed, the gap between the two is larger than historical norms, with our National Index averaging 2.8% more than the Consumer Price Index,” Brian Luke, head of commodities, real and digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a release.

The toy industry’s sales slump doesn’t seem to be hitting Lego. Lego said on Wednesday that revenue during the first half increased 13%. That comes out to 31 billion Danish krone, or around $4.65 billion. CEO Niels Christiansen told CNBC that the company is seeing strength across its portfolio, particularly with Lego Icons and Lego Creator as well as its Epic Games’ Fortnite partnership. He noted that volume is also up this year, reversing last year’s trend among consumers of going for lower-priced sets while still buying the same volume as the year prior. “To the extent they traded down last year, they’re not trading further down,” he said. “So that has stabilized. And we see almost all of the growth is actually growth in volume.”

— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han, Brian Evans, Kif Leswing, Jessica Golden, Michael Ozanian, Diana Olick and Sarah Whitten contributed to this report.

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