December Nasdaq 100 E-Mini futures are edging higher as Nvidia shares staged a modest rebound in pre-market trading and other chipmakers and AI infrastructure stocks steadied following a tumultuous week for the AI trade. December S and P 500 E-Mini futures are up 0.14 percent this morning, buoyed by a slight drop in oil prices, while investors await the producer inflation data.
Why it matters
The rebound follows a bruising Thursday. Nvidia fell as much as 14 percent at the open before closing down 4.34 percent at 166.19 dollars, the S and P 500 slipped 0.35 percent to 7,592, and the Dow lost almost 190 points. The futures now point to a steadier open, but the market is waiting on the data before it decides whether the calm is real.
The producer price report lands at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, with economists expecting a rise of 0.4 percent from September and 6.6 percent from a year earlier. The data follows a hotter than expected October consumer price report, and traders fully price a quarter point Federal Reserve rate hike next month, with a small chance of a half point move.
What happens next
The other numbers due this week add to the picture. Existing home sales slumped 5.5 percent to an annual rate of 3.75 million units, the lowest since 2010, and initial jobless claims rose by 9,000 to 200,000. Together, they describe an economy that is still growing but with households pulling back on the biggest purchases.
For now, the futures point to a calm open for technology and a steady one for the wider market. Whether the selling stays contained to chips will be decided when Wall Street opens, and the producer price data will be the first real test of the Nvidia rebound.
The selling followed a strong Wednesday session, when the S and P 500 gained 1.31 percent and the Nasdaq rose 1.60 percent on CoreWeave earnings. By Thursday morning, the focus had shifted to the Nvidia board and the question of who runs the company at the centre of the boom. The open will show whether the selling stays contained to technology or spreads wider.
