By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Ragini Mathur
Oct 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street was on track to open lower on Tuesday, pressured by renewed weakness in AI-linked stocks and a rebound in oil prices, while investors braced for major corporate earnings reports this week.
CoreWeave and Nebius Group were down 4.9% each in premarket trading, while Apple fell 1.5% and Nvidia slipped about 1%.
The pullback followed a brief rebound on Monday, when the S&P 500 and Nasdaq advanced as investors bought the dip in technology
stocks after last week's sharp selloff, fueled in part by concerns over CoreWeave's debt load and the cost of financing the AI buildout.
"Investors should focus on businesses translating AI investment into sustainable earnings and free cash flow, as well as those controlling critical infrastructure," said Alex Cargal, vice president at Bel Air Investment Advisors.
"A diversified, appropriately sized approach can provide exposure to the long-term opportunity while helping manage the risks associated with elevated expectations and market concentration."
Elsewhere, shares of South Korean AI infrastructure company Elice Group tumbled nearly 30% in their market debut, slipping below their IPO price after the company raised 201.1 billion won ($151.12 million) in its offering.
At 08:31 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 54 points, or 0.1%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 28.25 points, or 0.37%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 238.5 points, or 0.8%.
Brent crude was near a five-month high, as traders priced in a geopolitical risk premium from Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure and reports of vessel attacks in the Gulf. [O/R]
Investors are closely watching this week's corporate earnings for clues on whether companies can maintain strong growth in the face of mounting macroeconomic risks.
Quarterly results from SpaceX and Netflix are due after the market close on Tuesday, while heavyweights Meta Platforms and Tesla are scheduled to report on Wednesday.
Steel Dynamics fell 4.7% after the steelmaker missed third-quarter profit estimates.
General Motors shares dropped 6.5% after the automaker forecast its annual earnings below analysts' expectations.
Halliburton jumped 3.9% after the oilfield services provider topped Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit.
Qualcomm will cut jobs globally in a "performance-focused reduction" following its annual employee reviews, CEO Cristiano Amon told staff in a memo on Monday, Reuters exclusively reported. The chipmaker's shares were down 1%.
3M gained 1.8% after the company said it was expanding its data-center partnership with Amazon, and issued a warrant to an Amazon subsidiary to purchase 3M common stock worth over $521 million. The industrial conglomerate also raised its full-year profit forecast on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
