U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower as AI Enthusiasm Boosts Nasdaq and S&P 500

U.S. stock index futures were slightly lower on Monday evening following a mixed session on Wall Street, where optimism around artificial intelligence (AI) and positive corporate developments helped lift major indexes. As of 19:15 ET (00:15 GMT), S&P 500 futures slipped 0.1% to 6,873.20, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.2% to 26,048.75, and Dow Jones futures declined 0.1% to 47,412.00.

The S&P 500 gained 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.5%, driven by strength in megacap tech stocks and renewed confidence in AI innovation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, fell 0.5% as investors took profits after last week’s rally. Market sentiment was fueled by news of a $38 billion partnership between Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and OpenAI. Under the deal, Amazon Web Services will provide large-scale cloud infrastructure to power OpenAI’s next-generation AI models—reinforcing expectations of accelerating AI investment through 2025. Amazon shares surged over 4%, while Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) rose 2.2%, benefiting from optimism surrounding AI infrastructure demand.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Nvidia’s cutting-edge “Blackwell” AI chips would be reserved exclusively for U.S. use, a move analysts warned could strain trade relations with China. On the economic front, the ISM manufacturing index reported a contraction for the eighth consecutive month in October, with a reading of 48.7, indicating ongoing weakness in U.S. factory activity.

Amid a prolonged government shutdown—the longest in U.S. history—investors and policymakers remain without key economic data. In earnings news, Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) reported results in line with forecasts but fell 3% in after-hours trading. Investors now turn their focus to upcoming reports from Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD), Uber (NYSE: UBER), and McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) for further insight into AI trends and consumer resilience.