US stock futures fall as chip sell-off deepens; Nasdaq futures slide nearly 2%, Netflix tumbles

US stock futures traded lower on Friday, July 17, with technology stocks leading the decline, as a fresh sell-off in semiconductor shares and concerns over artificial intelligence spending weighed on investor sentiment.

Futures tied to the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 dropped nearly 1.9%, while S&P 500 futures fell about 0.9%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 333 points, or 0.6%, indicating a weak start to the trading session.

Chip stocks remained under pressure after extending losses from the previous session. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) declined nearly 3% in premarket trading, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) lost more than 2%.

Among individual stocks, Applied Materials fell around 4%, Lam Research, Intel, KLA Corp., and Arm Holdings dropped about 3% each, while Nvidia slipped 2% and Micron Technology lost over 1%.

The weakness in the sector comes amid mounting concerns over AI-related spending and increased competition after Chinese startup Moonshot AI unveiled a new artificial intelligence model that it claims significantly narrows the gap with leading US offerings.

Meanwhile, Netflix shares plunged more than 10% in premarket trading after the streaming giant issued a weaker-than-expected revenue forecast for the third quarter, citing a "dynamic and competitive" entertainment landscape. The decline put the stock on track for its lowest opening level in nearly two years.

The technology-led sell-off has put Wall Street's major indexes on course for weekly losses after a subdued session on Thursday.