By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Ragini Mathur
Oct 19 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes were set to open higher on Monday, as AI-related stocks rebounded from last week's sharp selloff, while a decline in oil prices provided additional support ahead of key earnings reports this week.
Both indexes posted their biggest weekly drop since late June on Friday, as concerns that higher interest rates could curb investments in AI infrastructure weighed on technology stocks, particularly data center operators.
The selloff reflected mounting investor unease over how the costly AI buildout will be financed, a question that has increasingly pressured companies underpinning the US bull market, which recently marked its fourth anniversary.
AI-linked stocks such as CoreWeave, which had plunged more than 25% last week, climbed 6.6% in premarket trading on Monday. Chipmakers Broadcom and Micron gained more than 3% each.
Megacap stocks were largely up, with Nvidia and Amazon rising more than 2% each. Meta was up marginally.
Focus is now shifting to a busy week of corporate earnings, with Meta expected to beat Wall Street expectations on Wednesday. Elon Musk-led Tesla's results are also due that day, while SpaceX is scheduled to report on Tuesday.
Netflix, General Motors and GE Aerospace are also among the companies reporting results this week.
"The tech sell off last week because of the rise in interest rates and the problems with CoreWeave sending shockwaves through the market. I don't think that is over just yet," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research.
"Certainly, corporate reports are all going to be important this week, but investors will be evaluating which companies are most vulnerable."
The AI boom, increasingly acknowledged by the Federal Reserve as a contributor to inflation, has also complicated policymakers' efforts to rein in price pressures while sustaining broader economic growth amid heavy spending by companies such as Amazon, Apple and Anthropic.
The Fed is expected to keep rates steady at 3.75%-4.00% when it meets on October 27-28, according to LSEG data.
At 08:44 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 125 points, or 0.24%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 34.5 points, or 0.45%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 365.5 points, or 1.24%.
Brent futures were last down 1.5% at around $108.29 a barrel, following US President Donald Trump's decision to waive some sanctions on Russia. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday the president would take up to 60 days to assess the economic impact of such a move. [O/R]
Meanwhile, Iran reported another tanker had hit a mine in the Strait of Hormuz, while the cost of shipping and insurance was keeping oil prices for actual delivery a lot higher.
Intel shares rose 4.2% after J.P.Morgan upgraded the stock to "neutral" from "underweight."
Cleveland-Cliffs surged 13.7% after the steelmaker surpassed analysts' estimate for third-quarter profit.
Bitcoin rose 2%, putting it on track for its biggest one-day gain in nearly a month. The move lifted crypto-related stocks, with Coinbase up 1.7% and Strategy gaining 2.2%.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
