Wall St futures rise as tech stocks gain; Middle East conflict in focus

By Johann M Cherian

March 16 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday with shares of Meta among top gainers after a report said the megacap was prepping for sweeping AI-related layoffs, even as elevated crude prices due to the raging Middle East conflict kept risk-taking in check.

Meta gained 2.6% in premarket trading after ​a Reuters report said it was planning to shrink 20% or more of its workforce to offset costly artificial ‌intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers.

The Instagram parent joins similar announcements made by Amazon.com and Block earlier this year.

AI is also expected to stay in the spotlight this week, with chip giant Nvidia’s annual developer conference scheduled later in the day, and results from Micron. Electronics giant Taiwan’s Foxconn <2317.TW> also issued a strong quarterly revenue forecast.

“If Jensen can show Nvidia has the hardware to lead not just in ‌building ​AI, but in powering its everyday use, this event could be a key moment ⁠in building confidence that Nvidia will remain ⁠the defining name in the next leg of the AI race,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, who holds shares in the chip company.

Nvidia gained 1.1%, while Micron added 4.4% following a price target hike by brokerage RBC. Tesla also gained 1% after CEO Elon Musk said the company’s Terafab project to make artificial intelligence chips ​will launch in seven days.

Keeping investors cautious were crude prices pinned at $100 a barrel, as shipments through the crucial Strait of Hormuz stayed mostly shut and U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands for a coalition to secure safe passage seemed to be in ⁠vain.

The impact of elevated energy costs is likely to be the main ⁠focus of central bank meetings globally this week, with the Federal Reserve also having to consider ​tariff costs and signs of a weakening jobs market.

Rates are expected to be left unchanged at the end of the Fed’s two-day ​meeting on Wednesday, and traders have pushed back their expectations for an interest rate cut of at ‌least 25 basis points to only after October, according to LSEG-compiled data, from July seen last month.

At 7:12 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 228 points, or 0.49%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 46.5 points, or 0.70%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 199.5 points, or 0.82%.

US EQUITIES HOLD UP BETTER THAN PEERS

Wall Street’s main indexes have been fraught with volatility since the war began as traders tried to gauge its repercussions on the economy.

Despite logging declines over the past ⁠two weeks, U.S. equities have fared better than global peers, buoyed by a rebound in beaten-down technology stocks and as the country is a net oil exporter.

The CBOE volatility index slipped 1.67 points to 25.52 on Monday, while futures tracking the rate-sensitive Russell ⁠2000 index were up 0.8%.

On the data ‌front, February industrial production and the New York Fed’s manufacturing index are due later in ⁠the day.

Elsewhere, top U.S. and Chinese economic officials were due to conclude talks in Paris, ​with potential areas ‌of agreement in agriculture, critical minerals and managed trade that could be taken up ​by U.S. President ⁠Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, sources familiar with the discussions said.

Investors were also monitoring moves in currency markets as the Japanese yen hovered close to 160 per dollar – its lowest level since the last central bank intervention.

Energy stocks including Occidental and ConocoPhillips edged higher, while travel stocks including Delta and Norwegian Cruise were steady.

Crypto stocks such as Strategy added 4.2% as bitcoin rallied over 2.7%.

Discount retailer Dollar Tree gained 1% in choppy trading after quarterly results and forecasts.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian, Utkarsh Tushar Hathi ​in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)