(RTTNews) - As trading resumes following the long Presidents' Day weekend, stocks are likely to move to the downside in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a lower open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures down by 0.4 percent.
Weakness among technology stocks may continue to weigh on Wall Street, as reflected by the 0.9 percent slump the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures.
Concerns about potential disruptions caused by the artificial intelligence buildout have recently led investors to sell tech stocks, which had helped lead the markets to record highs.
"Investors are increasingly questioning whether the marginal dollar spent on AI will generate the expected return," said Daniela Hathorn, Senior Market Analyst at Capital.com. "At the same time, market uncertainty is rising as new AI models frequently disrupt established players."
"With competitive dynamics evolving rapidly, it is unclear who the long-term winners will be," she added. "This uncertainty has led to underperformance across much of big tech, even as the broader market remains relatively resilient."
Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of key economic data in the coming days.
A report on personal income and spending in the month of December is likely to attract attention, as it includes the Federal Reserve's preferred readings on inflation.
The minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting may also shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates.
Not long after the start of trading, the National Association of Home Builders is scheduled to release its report on homebuilder confidence in the month of February. The housing market index is expected to inch up to 38 in February after dipping to 37 in January.
After showing a lack of direction early in the session, stocks saw some strength in afternoon trading on Friday before once again giving back ground going into the end of the day. The major averages eventually ended the day narrowly mixed.
While the tech-heavy Nasdaq dipped 50.48 points or 0.2 percent to 22,546.67, adding to the steep loss posted on Thursday, the S&P 500 inched crept up 3.41 points or 0.1 percent to 6,836.17 and the Dow inched up 48.95 points or 0.1 percent to 49,500.93.
For the week, the Nasdaq tumbled by 2.1 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow slumped by 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday, with many markets closed for holidays. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index fell by 0.3 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, European stocks have moved mostly higher on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is just above the unchanged line.
In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.53 to $63.42 a barrel after inching up $0.05 to $62.89 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after surging $97.90 to $5,046.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are plunging $115.60 to $9,30.70 an ounce.
On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 153.26 yen compared to the 153.51 yen it fetched on Monday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1818 compared to yesterday's $1.1850.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
