US pre-open: Futures head south following heavy AI sell-off

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the opening bell on Friday after yesterday's sell-off in tech stocks amid concerns that the artificial intelligence trade may be wavering. As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.55%, while S&P 500 futures 0.27% and Nasdaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.14% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed just 11.89 points higher on Thursday, modestly extending gains recorded in the previous session.

Thursday's moves followed comments from Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, who said demand for neocloud infrastructure was "off the charts" but warned that scarce capital was holding back growth. Huang's comments seemingly spooked markets, reigniting worries about tightening credit conditions, while Meta's own comments on the scale of funding needed for AI projects added further pressure to the sector.

As for Friday, the session's primary focus will likely be a preliminary reading of S&P Global's October manufacturing and services PMIs, both of which were due to be published at 1445 BST, with economists expecting to see the manufacturing PMI slip from 55.9 to 55.6 and the services PMI deteriorate from 58.8 to 57.9.

Elsewhere on the macro front, the University of Michigan's October consumer sentiment index will follow at 1500 BST.

In the corporate space, American Express posted a strong set of third‑quarter numbers, with net income rising to $3.7bn from $2.9bn a year earlier, while earnings per share climbed 31% to $5.42, up from $4.14 in the prior‑year period. Excluding the previously announced gain from the sale of its stake in Global Business Travel Group - a $982m pre‑tax benefit - adjusted net income came in at $3.2bn, or $4.68 per share.











Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com