U.S. stock futures were slightly higher early Wednesday, signaling a potential rebound after the previous session’s pullback as investors weighed strong tech sentiment against lingering economic and political uncertainty.
Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) was leading premarket gains, climbing 0.7% after CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC’s Squawk Box that demand for artificial intelligence computing had grown “substantially” over the past six months. His comments helped lift broader sentiment toward the AI sector, which has been at the center of this year’s market rally.
Still, trading could remain subdued ahead of the Federal Reserve’s September meeting minutes, due out this afternoon. Investors will be looking for clues on the central bank’s outlook for monetary policy after it cut rates by 25 basis points at its last meeting.
Tuesday’s session saw the major indexes lose ground, with the Nasdaq and S&P 500 pulling back from Monday’s record highs. The Nasdaq fell 0.7% to 22,788.36, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% to 6,714.59, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% to 46,602.98.
Market analysts attributed the decline to profit-taking following a strong run that pushed the S&P 500 higher for seven consecutive sessions. A slide in Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) shares also weighed on the broader tech space, with the stock dropping 2.5% after a report from The Information questioned the profitability of its AI expansion efforts.
Meanwhile, ongoing political gridlock in Washington over a temporary government funding bill continued to cloud sentiment. The shutdown, now entering its second week, has delayed several key economic reports — including last Friday’s jobs data — adding uncertainty to the outlook for future Fed rate cuts.
Despite the lack of fresh data, markets are still pricing in another quarter-point rate cut later this month. Comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other central bank officials this week, combined with the release of the minutes, could help clarify the Fed’s stance heading into year-end.
On the sector front, housing stocks were among the biggest losers Tuesday, dragging the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index down 3% to its lowest level in nearly two months. Semiconductors also retreated, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index sliding 2.1% after hitting a record close on Monday.
Elsewhere, computer hardware, gold, and airline stocks fell, while utilities managed to notch modest gains, reflecting a shift toward defensive positioning ahead of key economic updates.
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