Nasdaq futures rise after steep AI sell-off as chip stocks stabilise
A tech-led rout wipes nearly US$3 trillion off the market value for S&P 500 companies
Published Fri, Nov 6, 2026 · 09:41 PM
[BENGALURU] Nasdaq futures climbed on Friday (Nov 6) as chip stocks gained ground after a tech-led rout wiped nearly US$3 trillion off the market value for S&P 500 companies on fears that Democratic control of the US Congress could lead to tougher artificial intelligence regulation.
The Nasdaq Composite logged its steepest one-day decline in 19 months on Thursday, confirming it had entered correction territory. The index was also headed for a fourth straight weekly fall.
“We view Thursday’s sell-off as reactionary, not a fundamental reset, driven by a collision of concerns around AI spend, policy and inflation,” said Jane Gibbons, equity strategist at Jefferies.
The sharp losses followed Democrats’ midterm election victory earlier this week, including in some key data centre states, stoking concerns that AI data centre build-out could slow. Optimism over the sector’s rapid growth had propelled stock markets to record highs in 2026.
Wall Street’s fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index, logged its biggest one-day jump in about 19 months on Thursday. It was down slightly on Friday, at 26.70.
At 6.24 am ET, Dow E-minis were down 471 points, or 0.91 per cent, S&P 500 E-minis were up 21.75 points, or 0.29 per cent, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 378.5 points, or 1.41 per cent.
Megacap and growth stocks were mixed. Nvidia added 4.5 per cent in pre-market trading, after suffering its worst day since January 2025, when the emergence of low-cost Chinese AI model DeepSeek had rattled Wall Street.
Other chip stocks, including AMD, Intel, Broadcom and Micron Technology, were up between 4.6 per cent and 8.2 per cent.
Data centre operators IREN and Applied Digital , neoclouds CoreWeave and Nebius Group and AI-exposed utilities and equipment suppliers such as GE Vernova and Constellation Energy all recovered from deep losses in the last session.
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Elon Musk-led Tesla and SpaceX were also up 2 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively, after dropping sharply in the last two sessions.
A jump in crude oil prices on Thursday had also pressured equities over concerns of energy-fuelled inflation and prospects of higher interest rates by global central banks. Brent crude futures were broadly flat on Friday.
Despite Thursday’s jump, oil prices were set for sharp weekly declines, putting the S&P 500 energy index on track for a more than 11 per cent weekly drop.
The broader S&P 500 was on pace for its worst weekly showing since March 2025, when concerns regarding the Trump administration’s tariff policies had roiled global markets.
Investors will look ahead to an October jobs report due at 8.30 am ET for clues on interest rates, with traders pricing in a more than 65 per cent chance of a hike in December, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Among other stock movers, software firm Atlassian dropped 14.1 per cent after reporting first-quarter results. Airbnb climbed 12.2 per cent after the vacation rental platform raised full-year 2026 revenue growth forecast. REUTERS
