S&P 500, Nasdaq edge higher Oil prices drop 2% Gold trades...

	  S&P 500, Nasdaq edge higher 

	  Oil prices drop 2% 

	  Gold trades above $2,500 

	  European stocks gain 

	  U.S. dollar weakens 

(Updates prices throughout, adds analyst comment)

A gauge of global shares was flat in choppy trading while oil prices slipped on Tuesday as investors weighed geopolitical risks as well as impending Nvidia earnings and U.S. inflation data.

Markets are anticipating an imminent start to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy easing, after Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday the central bank was ready to start cutting rates.

The benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq edged higher in choppy trading while the Dow traded lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 0.12% to 41,189.90, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.09% to 5,621.87 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 0.09% to 17,741.59.

European stocks finished up 0.16% .STOXX , following a late rally in Japan's Nikkei index, which ended 0.47% higher. MSCI's all-country index of stocks <.MIWD00000PUS > was up 0.02% at 830.22.

Gold XAU= traded above $2,500 per ounce on rate cut expectations and lingering concerns about the Middle East conflict, exacerbated by a major missile exchange between Israel and Hezbollah on Sunday.

Middle East tensions - along with concerns about a potential shutdown of Libyan oil fields - had led to a surge in oil prices of more than 7% over the previous three sessions. However, that rally lost steam on Tuesday, with a slight dip in prices.

Investors were also on edge ahead of Nvidia's NVDA.O earnings report on Wednesday, where anything short of a stellar forecast from the chipmaker could jolt investor confidence in the AI-fuelled rally.

"I think the big story today is what's going to happen with Nvidia tomorrow, and this seems to be like what everybody is poised to react and nobody wants to really commit one way or the other," said James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management in Santa Monica, California.

"Nvidia is almost 5% of the S&P 500 earnings contribution and almost 7% of the market cap weight so it's significant in terms of its influence of the overall market."

U.S. consumer confidence rose to a six-month high in August although Americans are becoming more anxious about the labor market,

data showed

on Tuesday.

The dollar index =USD , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.13% at 100.72, with the euro EUR= up 0.05% at $1.1167.

A key measure of U.S. inflation due on Friday could further influence market perceptions of how quickly the Fed will act.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR rose 2.8 basis points to 3.846%. Investors are betting on either a 25-basis point or a 50-basis point interest-rate cut in September, with odds of a 25-bps cut at about 71%, while odds of a 50-bps cut are at about 29%, according to CME Group's Fed Watch tool.

"I think 25 bps is locked and loaded in terms of the market expectations at this point, but the question is, is 50 bps on the table?" St. Aubin added.

Also keeping sentiment in check was a move by Canada, following the lead of the United States and European Union, to impose a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminium from China.

Oil prices dipped, with Brent crude futures LCOc1 2.03% lower at $79.78 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 lost 2.16% to $75.75 a barrel.

((To read Reuters Markets and Finance news, click on https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets For the state of play of Asian stock markets please click on: 0#.INDEXA ))