S&P 500 futures were near the flatline on Monday evening after the broad market index failed to recover from last week’s sell-off, marking its third consecutive loss. Futures tied to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 inched about 0.1% higher. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 57 points, or 0.1%.
During Monday’s regular trading, key tech companies dragged down the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite. Palantir, a defense tech and artificial intelligence company, extended last week’s decline by falling more than 10%. Microsoft lost 1% following a TD Cowen report indicating reduced data center spending. Nvidia also dropped 3% ahead of its quarterly results due Wednesday after the bell.
Monday’s decline among tech names pulled the Nasdaq Composite into negative territory year to date.
“Investors in the market more broadly, they sort of almost want to believe that the AI trade is over. They’re looking for evidence [and] reasons to doubt,” said Doug Clinton, a managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Monday. “From our perspective, the AI trade is still real. I don’t think this boom is over. I still think we have two to four years to go.”
Along with Nvidia’s earnings this week, Wall Street is anticipating other key results, including Home Depot’s release before the opening bell on Tuesday.
Investors are also focusing on the latest U.S. consumer confidence data due out at 10:00 a.m. ET Tuesday. Economists expect the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index to show a reading of 102.3 for February, less than the previous month’s 104.1.
The report precedes other economic data releases later in the week, including January’s personal consumption expenditures price index reading on Friday. The PCE is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
— news from CNBC