Nov 9 (Reuters) - US stock index futures attempted a recovery on Monday as investors hunted for bargains following a steep slide in equities last week, while awaiting more clarity on the controversy surrounding Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
The gains kick off a pivotal week expected to offer some insight into whether last week's selloff post the midterms went too far or was warranted. But despite the relatively calm start, several concerns were converging under the surface, analysts warned.
Shares of Nvidia,
the second most valuable company in the world, fell 4.5% premarket after an internal investigation into whether CEO Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort raised questions about his future at the AI chipmaker.
"Given Huang's central role in Nvidia's success and the wider AI investment narrative, even speculation about leadership uncertainty could unsettle investors," said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.
Additionally, questions about the sustainability of the AI boom lingered following the Democrats' midterm triumph last week, and fears of a December rate hike also persisted following October's stronger-than-expected jobs data.
At 5:10 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 376 points, or 0.73%, S&P 500 E-minis rose 29.75 points, or 0.40%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis added 56.5 points, or 0.21%.
While "bargain hunting" was driving a recovery, "the modest gains in Nasdaq futures compared with the stronger advance in Dow futures suggest that investors remain selective," said Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer at Zaye Capital Markets.
CHIPS SUBDUED, MARKETS AWAIT EARNINGS
Shares of some chipmakers fell premarket, with Intel, Marvell Technology and Qualcomm down between 0.50% and 1.21%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index ended Friday with its biggest weekly loss since March 2025.
"The AI correction in equities could have much further to run," wrote Thomas Mathews, head of markets for Asia Pacific at Capital Economics.
"One further risk would be any concrete sign that the hyperscalers were paring back capital expenditures," he added.
Microsoft, Alphabet and META were up less than 1% each, suggesting investors were hesitant to take big positions.
Earnings are due on Monday from investment giant KKR and Constellation Energy, an energy firm with exposure to the AI boom.
KKR was up 3.7% ahead of the results, while Constellation was flat.
Of the 335 companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings as of Thursday, 82.4% beat estimates, according to Tajinder Dhillon, head of earnings and equity research at LSEG Data and Analytics.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
