Nov 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures indicated a mixed opening on Monday as investors looked ahead to crucial corporate results, especially from AI-chip leader Nvidia, following Wall Street's slump the previous week.
Rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow its pace of rate cuts and uncertainty over the impact of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet appointments saw indexes slump on Friday. The S&P 500 (.SPX), and the Nasdaq (.IXIC), notched their worst weekly losses in more than two months.
The market has "gotten a bit nervous," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth, citing changing expectations for monetary policy and Trump's cabinet appointments.
Results from Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, which reports third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, will be crucial as investors assess if the optimism around AI, responsible for much of markets' tech-driven rally this year, can be sustained.
Nvidia's shares fell 2.6% in premarket trading after a report said its new AI chips were overheating in servers. Its stock has nearly tripled in value this year and it is currently the world's most valuable company.
"I'm optimistic that they're going to continue to beat, but... optimism has been so high on that particular name (Nvidia) that you can't help but see some potential for a bit of a selloff," Pavlik said.
With the key holiday shopping season set to begin, results from major retailers including Walmart (WMT.N), opens new tab, Lowe's Companies (LOW.N), and Target (TGT.N), this week will be closely watched to gauge the strength of the U.S. consumer.
Dow E-minis were down 82 points, or 0.19%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 0.5 points, or 0.01% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 41 points, or 0.20%.
Stock indexes have lost some of the sharp gains made in the wake of Trump's decisive victory, but Wall Street remains fairly well placed as 2024 winds down. The benchmark index has gained nearly 3% in November and 23% year-to-date.
Most other megacaps edged higher, with Nasdaq 100 futures gaining ground after the index (.NDX), fell for five consecutive sessions. Alphabet (GOOGL.O), rose 0.6% and Amazon.com (AMZN.O), was up 0.4%.
Tesla (TSLA.O), jumped 5.8% after a report that members of Trump's transition team were seeking to ease U.S. rules for self-driving cars.
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee is scheduled to speak on the day, the first of several central bank officials slated this week. Their comments will be followed closely after Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed was in no hurry to cut rates.
Traders are pricing in a 41.6% chance the Fed will keep rates on hold in December, according to the CME FedWatch.
CVS Health's (CVS.N), shares gained 2.3% after the health insurer said it would add four new members to its board in an agreement with Glenview Capital Management.
Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
