US stocks retreated in early trading Tuesday, as investors waited for a major earnings report from Nvidia later in the week.

Shortly after markets opened on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent at 41,196.53, while the S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent to 5,601.93.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite index was trading down 0.5 percent at 17,630.91.

"We're in a wait-and-see environment right now, in front of Nvidia that reports tomorrow," B. Riley Wealth chief strategist Art Hogan told AFP.

"We've had a nice run, certainly driven by more clarity on monetary policy," he added, referring to recent comments from Federal Reserve policymakers that support calls for a rate cut as soon as next month.

Nvidia's share price has surged over the past year amid a boom in enthusiasm for AI-related companies, turning the chipmaker into one of the world's most valuable firms by market value -- and making it a bellwether stock for the chip sector.

Its share price was down around 1.2 percent in early trading.

And Super Micro Computer's shares were down around eight percent after short seller Hindenburg Research disclosed a short position in the company, accusing it of accounting manipulation.