Sept 29 (Reuters) - US stock index futures traded sideways on Tuesday, though tech and AI-linked stocks ticked higher, as rising crude oil prices and steep bond yields kept risk appetite in check over the lack of progress in US-Iran peace talks.
Tech stocks were in focus as Anthropic's IPO prospectus, as seen by Reuters, showed how the AI lab has grown sharply in the last year — while also posting wider losses.
Anthropic is targeting a valuation of more than $2 trillion in a public offering, possibly
establishing it as a benchmark for how Wall Street values AI's leading companies.
Most chip-related companies inched higher in premarket trading after a sector-wide selloff on Monday. Marvell Technology, Micron Technology and Broadcom all rose around 1% each.
Nvidia inched 0.7% higher, building on Monday's gains when the world's most valuable company boosted its share buyback authorization by a record $150 billion.
The AI theme remains crucial for Wall Street, and has powered the bulk of the market's bull run that began back in October 2022. Remarks from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman during the company's DevDay event later in the day would also be on investors' radar.
At 5:06 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 37 points, or 0.07%, and S&P 500 E-minis were down 2.75 points, or 0.04%, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 18.75 points, or 0.06%.
The S&P 500 clocked its biggest one-day percentage fall since late August on Monday as tech stocks came under pressure amid geopolitical uncertainty.
"The markets are waiting for a breakthrough, or at least clarity, regarding the war. That would support sentiment. But it's unlikely to arrive any time soon," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
Oil prices rose for a second successive session. US President Donald Trump said he has offered Iran nothing to end the war, rejecting media reports that cited US officials saying he was willing to ease sanctions and release frozen funds for "concrete" steps regarding Iran's nuclear program.
Concerns over high energy prices fueling inflation and forcing central banks to raise interest rates have gripped global markets lately, dragging down equities and other risk assets.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond hovered near its highest level since 2007, highlighting market expectations for tighter monetary policy in the future.
Economic data has garnered more scrutiny lately as the Federal Reserve has dialed back commentary on future policy moves under Chair Kevin Warsh. Traders currently see a 70% chance of another interest rate hike in October, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
A job openings reading for August is due later in the day, the first of many economic data points scheduled to be released this week.
At least six Fed officials, including New York Fed President John Williams, are set to speak throughout the day on Tuesday.
Among other movers, Summit Therapeutics leaped 22.4%. The biopharma firm said British drugmaker AstraZeneca would invest $2 billion in it and collaborate on a series of studies testing their cancer treatments together.
Snacks and soda giant PepsiCo dipped 0.7% after JP Morgan downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "overweight".
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das)
