U.S. stock futures got off to a mixed start to a new month as earnings from Micron (MU) boosted sentiment for tech stocks, while investors kept an eye on the bond market.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures (YM=F) fell 0.4%, while those of the S&P 500 (ES=F) climbed 0.1%. Contracts for the Nasdaq-100 (NQ=F) gained 0.6%.
Micron (MU) shares themselves were little changed after the memory giant reported fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations and raised its outlook for the first quarter.
Stocks ended the third quarter and September historically weak on Wednesday. The Dow posted losses for both periods, with US bond yields seeing their biggest rise since September 2022, while the Nasdaq rose.
Market momentum has waned as AI technology stocks navigate uncertainty, while the rest of the market remains held back by persistently high Treasury yields and oil prices (CL=F, BZ=F). Nvidia (NVDA) stock rose 5% in September; AMD (AMD) gained 30%.
A report on the Challenger, Gray and Christmas layoff plans, scheduled for release Thursday morning, this week joins the ranks of a series of reports on labor market data that set the tone for Friday’s monthly jobs report. Investors will also have access to information on manufacturing activity.
Nike (NKE) reports earnings after the bell, offering insight into how its turnaround efforts are going, but it will take a lot to change Wall Street’s sentiment toward the stock, which is trading at its lowest levels since 2014.
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‘AI or Bust:’ Tech Trading Powered Stocks During Volatile September
Yahoo Finance’s David Hollerith recaps market performance in September:
Wall Street performed better than expected in September, given that month’s historic reputation as the worst month for stocks. Much of this depends on, you guessed it, the business of artificial intelligence.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.4% for the month as Treasury yields rose. This is down 1.9% from its record set in August. September has consistently been the weakest month for the S&P 500, with an average decline of 0.6% since 1950.
Markets diverged in September The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained 1.8% after hitting a new high on September 22. Tech giants Meta (META) and AMD (AMD), along with a handful of other semiconductor stocks, drove this performance.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell about 4.3%, while the small-cap focused Russell 2000 Index (^RUT) fell 5.4%.
“It’s AI or bust,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, pointing to the divergence in stock performance of major stock indexes.
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