After the S&P 500's third straight losing session, futures remain relatively unchanged, indicating market hesitation. Investors are closely watching upcoming economic data and earnings reports from major companies like Nvidia and Home Depot to gauge future market direction and the ongoing viability of the AI investment boom.

The stock market is exhibiting signs of uncertainty, with S&P 500 futures showing little movement after the index's recent struggles. This comes as investors digest mixed signals from tech sector performance and look ahead to key economic data releases and corporate earnings reports.

Market Overview

• S&P 500 Futures: Remained near the flatline after hours.
• Nasdaq-100 Futures: Increased by approximately 0.1%.
• Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures: Rose by 57 points, or 0.1%.

Tech Sector Drag

During regular trading hours, tech stocks played a significant role in pulling down the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite:

• Palantir: Experienced a decline of over 10%, continuing a downward trend from the previous week.
• Microsoft: Lost 1% following a TD Cowen report suggesting reduced spending on data centers.
• Nvidia: Shed 3% in anticipation of its quarterly results, due Wednesday after the bell.

"Investors in the market more broadly, they sort of almost want to believe that the AI trade is over. They're looking for evidence [and] reasons to doubt," said Doug Clinton, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management.

Despite the recent downturn, Clinton remains optimistic about the AI sector's long-term potential, estimating that the "AI trade is still real" with "two to four years to go."

Upcoming Catalysts

Investors are keenly awaiting several key events this week:

• Home Depot Earnings: Expected before Tuesday's opening bell.
• U.S. Consumer Confidence Data: Due at 10:00 a.m. ET Tuesday. Economists anticipate a reading of 102.3 for February, according to a Dow Jones poll, down from January's 104.1.
• Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index: Scheduled for release Friday. The PCE is the Federal Reserve's preferred metric for measuring inflation.

Expert Outlook

Alicia Levine of BNY Wealth suggests that 2025 will be a year that's "'positive but unsatisfying' for stocks." She anticipates continued economic growth but doesn't foresee a recession in 2025, stating, "Growth is good enough. We think disinflation continues later in the year."

After-Hours Movers

Several companies experienced notable movements in extended trading:

• Hims & Hers Health: Fell more than 17% after reporting a gross margin of 77% for the fourth quarter, below analysts' expectations of 78.4%.
• Zoom Communications: Decreased by about 1% after providing a revenue outlook that narrowly missed analysts' estimates, projecting full-year revenue of $4.79 billion to $4.80 billion versus the expected $4.81 billion.
• Cleveland-Cliffs: Pulled back 2% after its fourth-quarter results fell short of Wall Street's expectations, reporting a loss of 92 cents per share on $4.33 billion in revenue compared to the anticipated loss of 61 cents per share and $4.43 billion in revenue.