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Markets were on course to open in the red Tuesday as investors continued to dump tech stocks, which have taken a hammering in recent weeks due to concerns about the disruption that artificial intelligence could cause.
Stock futures tracking the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 81 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures were 0.2% lower, and contracts tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.4%.
The Nasdaq has closed in the red for five straight weeks, dragged down by concerns about big spending on AI as well as a series of panic selloffs that have hit industries including software, trucking, and commercial real estate.
The selloff gathered pace on Monday, even though U.S. stock and bond markets were closed for Presidents Day. France’s Dassault Systèmes and Germany’s Siemens both racked up sizable losses in European trading, plagued by concerns that AI could disrupt industrial software.
“Beneath the surface, AI-related concerns continued to simmer… It’s clear that the market hasn’t yet shaken off this theme,” said Deutsche Bank macro strategist Jim Reid.
Retailer Walmart and software developer Palo Alto Networks are among the companies set to report earnings this week. But the main event could well be Friday’s personal consumption expenditures index, which will give investors a better idea of how the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation are going.
The dollar climbed 0.3% against a weighted basket of its peers on Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 2 basis points, to 4.03%.
Gold futures dropped 2% to $4,948 an ounce, dragged down by the stronger greenback ahead of nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran. Brent oil dropped 1% to $67.96 a barrel.
Bitcoin signaled that investors were in a risk-off mood. The world’s largest cryptocurrency extended a recent selloff, sliding 0.6% to $68,356 over the past 24 hours.
