US STOCKS-US stock futures fall on extended chip losses, inflation worries

Wall Street's rally was halted on Friday as a rout in global bond markets evoked fears ‌of major central banks adopting a tighter monetary policy with the Middle East conflict driving oil prices higher, raising the specter of elevated inflation. Brent crude futures ‌dipped about 1%, but were still above $110 after U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media on Monday that he had held off on a planned military strike against Iran, scheduled for Tuesday, while negotiations continued.

​U.S. stock index futures declined on Tuesday, dragged lower by ‌a ​slide in chip stocks and ongoing inflation concerns despite a pause in the Treasury selloff and pullback in oil prices. Nvidia lost 0.8% in premarket trading and was on track to drop for the third day in a row as investors ‌retreated from richly valued semiconductor stocks that have helped drive U.S. equities to record highs this year.

Memory chip and data storage companies took a hit after surging in recent weeks. Micron Technology was down 1.7%, Seagate Technology fell 2.9%, while Western Digital dropped 3%. Wall Street's rally was halted on Friday as a rout in global bond markets evoked fears ‌of major central banks adopting a tighter monetary policy with the Middle East conflict driving oil prices higher, raising the specter of elevated inflation.

Brent crude futures ‌dipped about 1%, but were still above $110 after U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media on Monday that he had held off on a planned military strike against Iran, scheduled for Tuesday, while negotiations continued. Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.609% after touching its highest level since February 2025 on Monday.

"Risk sentiment is mixed on Tuesday, as investors weigh up the costs of the war in the ⁠Middle East," ​said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. "There is ⁠a sense of frustration that there has been no break in the impasse between the U.S. and Iran and no clear path to a deal to end the war."

At 07:23 a.m. ET, Dow ⁠E-minis lost 101 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 E-minis fell 27.75 points, or 0.37%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 184 points, or 0.63%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq led losses on Wall ​Street on Monday, as rising yields pressured technology and other growth stocks. Higher yields tend to weigh on such companies because their valuations rely heavily on ⁠potential future profits.

On Tuesday, cloud firm Akamai Technologies fell 3.8% after announcing a $2.6 billion convertible bond offering. Meanwhile, shares of software firms were among the top gainers, extending the recent momentum from the last few sessions.

Workday rose ⁠3.3%, ​Atlassian gained 3.9%, Intuit advanced 2.1%, while Zscaler and ServiceNow added 5.6% and 2.1%, respectively. On Wednesday, investors will focus on the release of minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting for clues on how much support there was among policymakers to pivot to a neutral stance from an easing bias.

Markets are pricing ⁠in about a 40% chance the central bank will raise interest rates by at least 25 basis points in January, according to CME's FedWatch tool. Corporate earnings are another ⁠key test for markets. Nvidia, the world's ⁠most valuable company, is due to report results on Wednesday, with investors looking for evidence that AI-driven demand can justify elevated valuations across the semiconductor sector.

Walmart, the largest retailer globally, will also report earnings this week, and its results could offer a ‌clearer view of how consumers in ‌the United States are faring amid broad inflation pressures.