US stock futures climbed early Monday as investors gauged whether the artificial-intelligence trade can regain its footing after one of its sharpest pullbacks in more than two years.
Nasdaq 100 futures were up more than 1% as of 7:47 a.m. in New York, while contracts on the S&P 500 gained 0.4%, led by advances in semiconductor and other AI-linked shares ahead of a potentially pivotal week for the sector.
Traders will be watching to see whether a nascent shift from chip stocks into overlooked areas of the market will continue this week. Morgan Stanley strategist Michael Wilson says leadership is broadening as investors trim semiconductor holdings and redeploy capital into areas that have lagged this year’s rally. He noted this cohort, which includes the likes of Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., is attractive within the AI ecosystem due to their strong core businesses.
Samsung Electronics Co. reports preliminary quarterly earnings on Tuesday, offering one of the first major updates on AI-related memory demand.
In the IPO space, SK Hynix Inc. kicked off its formal marketing process for its US listing on Monday, as the South Korean chipmaker looks to capitalize on surging investor demand for the high-flying memory-chip sector.
SpaceX’s addition to the Nasdaq 100 on Tuesday is also expected to spur index-related portfolio rebalancing.
The debate over market leadership comes as positioning data point to a meaningful reduction in exposure to technology. Hedge funds were net sellers of global equities for a third straight week through Thursday, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Information technology ranked among the sectors facing the heaviest selling, extending a retreat that began after funds unwound tech positions at the fastest pace in a decade. Single stocks continued to be sold while macro products attracted fresh buying.
