SPX: S&P 500 Tumbles to Start the Week. Equity Futures Rise Amid Renewed Optimism

Traders weren’t too hungry for risk assets Monday. But Tuesday’s a different ball game. At least in premarket.

Wall Street began the week on the back foot, though the damage was more of a stumble than a pullback.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 307 points, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite edged 0.1% lower as traders balanced geopolitics against bargain hunting.

Oil briefly topped $90 a barrel after renewed US-Iran tensions before easing later in the session.

Under the surface, the mood wasn't entirely gloomy. Last week's biggest losers suddenly found buyers, suggesting investors weren't abandoning the AI story — just taking a breather after a sharp round of profit-taking.

Semiconductor names staged a respectable comeback after last week’s bruising selloff. Micron, Sandisk, and Seagate ranked among Monday's top performers, proving that sometimes yesterday's panic becomes today's bargain bin.

The rebound spilled into Asia. South Korea's Kospi jumped 4% Tuesday, powered by heavyweight chipmakers Samsung Electronics, up 7%, and SK Hynix, which climbed 5.5% as investors returned to AI-linked names.

The move highlighted just how volatile chip stocks have become. Or stocks in general. The old definitions of 10% for a correction and 20% for a bear market? Maybe we need to update those.

US equity futures pointed higher early Tuesday. Dow futures gained roughly 0.4%, S&P 500 futures rose 0.5%, and Nasdaq futures outperformed with a 1.2% advance as optimism over a potential ceasefire lifted risk appetite.

With the economic calendar looking unusually quiet and Federal Reserve officials entering their pre-meeting blackout period (rate decision comes next Wednesday), macro headlines are taking a back seat.

That leaves earnings firmly in the spotlight. Alphabet, Tesla and IBM report Wednesday, followed by Intel and American Airlines on Thursday.