Stock futures rose on Monday and traders are analyzing whether technology stocks can continue to rally as they await the release of key data on inflation and earnings from major artificial intelligence companies this week. S&P 500 futures gained 0.42%, while the Nasdaq 100 added 0.18%. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 375 points, or 0.73%. In Asia, markets were mostly higher on Monday, with Taiwanese stocks leading the rise. Taiwan’s weighted index rose nearly 6%, boosted by a rally in key stocks TSMC and Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn. The Nikkei 225 gained 2.56% and the Topix rose 3.06%, boosted by financial and consumer cyclical stocks. South Korea’s Kospi benchmark index fell 0.15% at the end of the session, while the small-cap Kosdaq index also fell 0.1%. Heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rose 1.06% and 1.68% respectively. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.12%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 Index rose 0.13%. Investors in Asia are also evaluating October inflation data out of China, with the producer price index hitting its highest level in more than four years at 5.7%, and consumer inflation coming in slower than expected at 0.7%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1%. Friday’s market partially recovered from Thursday’s brutal AI-induced sell-off, as chip stocks rebounded on fresh buying. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rebounded 1.09% to 24,579.42 and the broad-market S&P 500 rose 0.31% to 7,376.86. The Dow Jones, however, lost 237.33 points, or 0.46%, to settle at 51,285.73. Overall investor sentiment remained cautious following a series of better-than-expected employment data. Additionally, concerns remain after Democrats’ strong midterm results, amid fears that stricter regulations on data center construction, energy use and development costs could slow the rise of AI infrastructure. The tech sector will also be focused on Sunday’s bombshell announcement that Nvidia’s board of directors is opening an investigation into co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with a businesswoman who U.S. intelligence agencies say is a Chinese spy. An indicator of Nvidia stock is down 2% in the last 24 hours in trading on Hyperliquid. Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at the Schwab Center for Financial Research, noted that the Nasdaq and Nasdaq-100 are oversold, with major de-risking by traders. Thursday marked the biggest day of retail sales since the Covid pandemic, according to Vanda Research. Retailers haven’t been taking advantage of the selloff, Sonders said. “Retail has not proven to be the dip buyers that they have been in the past,” he told CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Friday. “You saw a really significant amount of net sales…we may not be completely eliminated yet, but we’ll have to see if that retailer at some point decides to step in again.” Sonders suggested the next near-term focus should be on companies’ adjustments to capital spending plans and expectations of future profit margins. run. They will also be watching the releases of the consumer price index on Tuesday and the producer price index on Friday, for clues about the Federal Reserve’s next move. On Monday, traders will receive wholesale inventory data for September at 10 a.m. ET. Take-Two Interactive Software, Occidental Petroleum, KKR, Constellation Energy and Skydance are scheduled to report quarterly earnings.
