Updates before markets open

By Shashwat Chauhan and Ragini Mathur

Feb 25 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to open higher on Wednesday after volatile sessions earlier this week as investors assessed risks to the AI trade and growing tariff doubts heading into Nvidia's earnings due later in the day.

February has been a choppy month for U.S. equities as investors questioned if massive AI spending touted by technology giants was actually paying off, while tariff uncertainty further stoked volatility.

Several sectors ranging from software and commercial real estate to trucking and logistics have recently logged steep declines, as new developments in the AI space stoked worries of industry-wide disruptions.

"I see AI disruption continuing as a dominant market theme through this year because AI continues to evolve," said Sam Stovall, CFRA's chief investment strategist.

"We are still looking at elevated valuations in the market and there will still be an unwind not only in technology and software in particular, but in other areas as well."

U.S. President Donald Trump boasted of stock market gains in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday and said that "almost all" countries and corporations want to stick to tariff and investment agreements previously made with the United States.

Trump's temporary global tariff of 10% came into effect on Tuesday after the Supreme Court's sweeping ruling last week. He later said the levy would be 15%, but it was unclear when and if it would apply.

Stocks got a boost on Tuesday as sentiment towards AI stocks improved, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC closing more than 1% higher.

At 08:26 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were up 158 points, or 0.32%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 22.25 points, or 0.32%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 111.25 points, or 0.44%.

All eyes will be on Nvidia's NVDA.O earnings due after markets close on Wednesday, with AI investors seeking evidence that the chipmaker's profits are growing on the back of Big Tech's $630 billion capital spending budget for 2026.

Nvidia options imply a move of about 5.6% in either direction a day after the company reports results, which is the lowest expected post-results swing ahead of any Nvidia report in at least three years.

Its shares rose 0.8% in premarket trading, in line with a broader rise in most megacap and growth stocks.

Axon Enterprise AXON.O climbed 16.1% after the taser-maker beat fourth-quarter profit estimates, while Workday WDAY.O dropped 9.4% after the enterprise software maker forecast fiscal 2027 subscription revenue below estimates.

First Solar FSLR.O shed 15.6% after the solar panel maker projected annual sales below estimates, while Lowe's Companies LOW.N fell 3.1% after the home improvement retailer forecast annual sales and profit below estimates.

Earnings from major software firms including Salesforce CRM.N, Intuit INTU.O and Snowflake SNOW.N will be on the radar later this week, given that the S&P 500 software and services index .SPLRCIS has slumped almost 23% so far this year.

At least three Federal Reserve officials are slated to speak throughout the day as investors hunt for clues on the future monetary policy path.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

((Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com;))