US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq futures rise as AI stocks rebound ahead of key earnings

By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Ragini Mathur

Oct 19 (Reuters) - S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures gained on Monday as AI-related shares rebounded from last week's sharp selloff, while a decline in oil prices and Treasury yields provided additional support ahead of key earnings reports from major technology companies this week.

The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC posted their biggest weekly drop since late June on Friday, as concerns that higher interest rates could curb investments in AI infrastructure weighed on technology stocks, particularly data center operators.

The selloff reflected mounting investor unease over how the costly AI buildout will be financed, a question that has increasingly pressured companies underpinning the US bull market, which recently marked its fourth anniversary.

AI-linked stocks such as CoreWeave CRWV.O, which plunged more than 25% last week, climbed 3.4% in premarket trading on Monday. Chip names also gained, with Broadcom AVGO.O and Micron MU.O adding 2.9% and 3.3%, respectively.

Megacap stocks were mixed. While Nvidia NVDA.O and Amazon rose more than 1% each, Apple AAPL.O and Meta META.O were down marginally.

Focus is now shifting to a busy week of corporate earnings, with Meta expected to beat Wall Street expectations on Wednesday. Elon Musk-led Tesla's TSLA.O results are also due that day, while SpaceX SPCX.O is scheduled to report on Tuesday.

Netflix NFLX.O, General Motors GM.N and GE Aerospace GE.N are also among the companies reporting results this week.

"What investors really need is stronger monetization, proof that the revenues generated with AI can catch up with the spending on AI tools," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote.

"Because after last week, another promise to spend billions may not sit well in investors' stomachs."

At 07:05 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 73 points, or 0.14%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 36.5 points, or 0.47%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 307.5 points, or 1.05%.

Brent futures were last down 1.3% at around $108.5 a barrel, following US President Donald Trump's decision to waive some sanctions on Russia. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday the president would take up to 60 days to assess the economic impact of such a move. O/R

The benchmark 10-year yield also fell to 5.0812%.

Meanwhile, Iran reported another tanker had hit a mine in the Strait of Hormuz, while the cost of shipping and insurance was keeping oil prices for actual delivery a lot higher.

Intel INTC.O shares rose 4.4% after J.P.Morgan upgraded the stock to "neutral" from "underweight."

Cleveland-Cliffs CLF.N gained 13.8% after the steelmaker surpassed analysts' estimate for third-quarter profit.