Nasdaq futures drop over 1% as AI worries resurface, oil climbs

Oct 22 — Nasdaq futures slid more than 1% on Thursday as high-growth stocks faced renewed pressure ​after earnings from Tesla and Meta Platforms did little to allay concerns over AI spending, while a rebound in oil prices further dampened ‌sentiment.

The weakness follows a strong session on Wednesday when the tech-heavy Nasdaq led Wall Street higher as ⁠robust results from SpaceX and Super ​Micro rekindled optimism around AI-linked stocks.

SpaceX ⁠dropped 2.3% and Super Micro fell 4.7% in premarket trading on Thursday ‌as investors shifted their ‌focus from earnings to the mounting cost of the AI buildout.

Tesla ⁠fell 5.3% after the electric-vehicle maker cut its ⁠annual capital expenditure forecast, raising questions about the pace of its AI and robotics expansion.

Meta's shares slipped 1.9% after the social media giant introduced new non-voting shares to help fund its costly AI push, reviving investor scrutiny of the substantial capital required to stay competitive in the race.

The 'Magnificent 7' ‌stocks were also down, with Amazon.com declining 1.6% ​and Nvidia down 2.4%.

Chip stocks dropped, too. Intel was down 5.1%, while AMD, Qualcomm, Marvell Technology, Broadcom and Micron Technology slipped between 2.9% and 5.3%.

At 04:56 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 367 points, or 0.69%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 85.5 points, or 1.1%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 578.5 points, or 1.93%.

Brent crude climbed more than 3% to $112 a ​barrel, near a five-month high, after more Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked fears of ‌supply disruptions and ‌a wider ⁠Middle East conflict. [O/R]

A flight to safety pushed the 10-year yield down to around 5.085%.

Bitcoin fell 3.4%, reflecting a broader risk-off mood as investors sought safer-haven assets.

Later in the day, earnings from Spotify, Blackstone, American Airlines and Honeywell International are expected ‌to offer a broader ​read on corporate performance across sectors.

IBM fell 5.7% ‌even after raising annual ⁠software revenue ​forecast and reporting third-quarter ahead of Wall Street expectations.

(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Shilpi Majumdar)

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