U.S. stock index futures moved higher on Monday morning, finding relief as technology and artificial intelligence-related equities stabilized following a dismal October performance. Market participants shifted their immediate focus toward the looming U.S. midterm elections and another packed week of corporate financial reports.
At 5:15 a.m. Eastern Time, Dow E-minis rose 270 points, or 0.52%, while S&P 500 E-minis climbed 39.75 points, also up 0.52%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis led the major benchmarks, gaining 253.5 points, or 0.89%, in premarket activity.
The rebound followed a punishing stretch for the sector. Last month alone, the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 index shed more than $2.5 trillion in market value, bringing it to the edge of correction territory. Investor anxiety mounted over Big Tech’s heavy capital expenditures on artificial intelligence infrastructure while tangible returns remained slow to materialize. Compounding those worries, several corporations recently tapped the bond market to fund their AI ambitions, raising fears that debt-financed spending will prove difficult to justify as borrowing costs stay elevated.
Negative sentiment dominated the sector late last week following a pair of damaging reports. Media coverage on Friday indicated that OpenAI had reduced the funding target for its latest financing round by $10 billion. A separate report revealed that Blackstone advised investors that Anthropic might fail to secure an investment-grade rating following an initial public offering.
Despite those headwinds, the market mood shifted on Monday, with most megacap and growth shares posting premarket gains. SpaceX and Alphabet emerged among the session’s top early performers. Intel managed a modest 0.2% increase after suffering its worst single-day percentage drop since the 1980s on Friday, a plunge triggered by a weak quarterly revenue forecast and management’s admission that the chipmaker does not expect positive cash flow this year. Rival chipmaker AMD prepared to report its earnings later in the week, while Apple shares eased 0.4% ahead of its quarterly results scheduled after the closing bell. Among non-tech equities, beauty products manufacturer Estée Lauder and hotel operator Marriott International were slated to report before the opening bell.
Broader market sentiment also received support from the commodities sector, where crude oil prices dropped more than 4%. The retreat followed diplomatic talks between Iranian and Qatari officials regarding a potential agreement to end the U.S.-Israeli conflict on Iran, fostering optimism that impending disruptions to Middle East energy supplies could ease.
Beyond corporate earnings and commodities, investors squared positions ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections. The congressional contests will determine whether Democrats can wrest control of legislative chambers away from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party. While political analysts widely anticipate a Democratic victory in the House of Representatives, the balance of power in the Senate remains highly contested. Republicans maintained control of both congressional chambers during the first two years of the Trump administration.
“Midterm elections tend to be unfavourable events for the party in power and a Democratic victory in the House of Representatives would return the US to divided government, which would hardly be unusual,” said Seth Meyer, global head of client portfolio management at Janus Henderson Investors. “While political uncertainty can contribute to volatility, divided government can potentially insulate voters and the economy from some of the more ambitious policy intentions of either party. In short, gridlock may be good, and it certainly isn’t unusual.”
In individual stock movements, Okta shares jumped 3.6% after S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that the identity management firm would join the S&P 500 index, taking the place of Kenvue.
