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postUS stock futures faltered in their rebound bid on Friday, set to resume a tech-led sell-off as investors weighed signals on the jobs market and the odds that the AI investment boom will pay off.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) and the S&P 500 (ES=F) both edged down roughly 0.2%, losing hold of earlier slight gains. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) fell 0.3% following Thursday’s sharp losses for US gauges led by megacap tech and AI names.
Stocks are on track to close a bumpy week in the red, dragged down by persistent worries about an AI bubble as Big Tech valuations run high. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) and the S&P 500 (^GSPC) are eyeing weekly declines of around 3% and 2%, respectively, after . The Dow (^DJI), which includes fewer tech names, is looking at a 1.5% drop.
In the latest tech extravagance, Tesla (TSLA) approved a $1 trillion pay package for CEO Elon Musk on Thursday, setting high targets for growth in the EV maker’s market value. Musk is also being asked to deliver on his promises for its robotaxi and Optimus humanoid robot — the hardware side of the AI boom. Tesla shares traded broadly flat in premarket trading.
Adding to the downbeat mood, October job cuts hit their highest level for the month in more than 20 years, underscoring what’s shaping up to be the worst year for layoffs since 2009.
That private data out Thursday reverberated through Wall Street more than usual, given the current dearth of official updates on the economy. The Bureau of Labor Statistics was scheduled to release the October jobs report on Friday, but for a second straight month, the data’s publication has been delayed by the government shutdown.
Clues to the health of the economy could come the University of Michigan’s initial reading of consumer sentiment in November, due Friday morning.
In the background, investors are watching out for several potential upside catalysts: The end of the prolonged US shutdown, a December interest-rate cut, and Nvidia’s upcoming earnings report could help stabilize sentiment and revive risk appetite. But the Supreme Court’s review of the legality of President Trump’s tariff policies adds a layer of uncertainty.
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Stocks face ‘critical tipping point’ as key thresholds tested
Traders are turning to clues in technical charts in the hope it will shed some light on when the latest selloff in the markets may end.
Doubts around the billions invested in AI and sky-high stock valuations sent the S&P 500 (^GSPC) down to 6,720.32 on Thursday, the lowest level in two weeks. A drop below the 50-day moving average of 6,665 could indicate problems ahead.
Bloomberg News reports:
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Jack Dorsey-led Block’s shares fall amid concerns over Square profitability
Shares in Block (XYZ) fell 15% before the bell on Friday after the fintech company, which is owned by Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, released earnings on Thursday which caused concern among investors due to Block’s payment unit, Square, and its profitability.
Reuters reports:
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Crypto market erases most of 2025’s gains in just weeks
The crypto market has wiped out almost all its rise in value this year, and the overall value of digital assets is now lower than when President Trump took office.
Bloomberg reports:
It took just over a month for cryptocurrencies to erase almost all of this year’s market value gains.
At its Oct. 6 peak, the total market value of all cryptocurrencies touched a record of nearly $4.4 trillion, but a 20% decline since then leaves asset class up a modest 2.5% for the year, according to CoinGecko data.
The downturn that began with the sudden liquidation of about $19 billion in leveraged positions just days after the all-time high shattered confidence, and traders show few signs of betting on a rebound.
That performance is a shock few would have predicted in a year defined by a tighter embrace of digital assets by regulators, global banks and institutional investors.
President Donald Trump’s push to cement the US as the world’s crypto epicenter unleashed a wave of activity and sent bitcoin (BTC-USD) climbing as much as 35%. In a sign of how quickly sentiment has reversed, the market value of digital assets is now lower than when Trump took office.
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Premarket trending tickers: Expedia, Honda and DraftKings
Expedia (EXPE) rose 16% before the bell on Friday after raising its 2025 forecast and beating Wall Street estimates for revenue.
Japanese automaker, Honda (HMC) saw its stock fall almost 2% in premarket trading on Friday after profit for its first fiscal half through September fell 37% from prior year due to President Trump’s tariffs.
DraftKings (DKNG) stock fell 7% before the bell after cutting its full-year sales outlook to $5.9 billion from $6.1 billion.
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Musk: Tesla needs ‘gigantic chip fab’, could work with Intel
Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk gave investors a hint of the future he plans for the EV maker, fresh after getting his trillion-dollar pay deal approved at its annual shareholder meeting.
Reuters reports:
Musk scored an important victory on Thursday as shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay package over the next decade, endorsing his vision of morphing the EV maker into an AI and robotics juggernaut.
Read more here.
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Asian markets fall, dragged down by tech stock losses
Reuters reports:
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