Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Oct. 30, 2026.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Stock futures moved higher Monday as oil prices fell sharply and tech names rebounded, while investors braced for a packed week of earnings results, jobs reports and the upcoming midterm elections.
S&P 500 futures traded 0.5%, while Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.8%. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 310 points, or 0.6%.
Brent crude tumbled 4.5% to $108.38 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures also pulled back more than 4% to $99.31.
Micron, Sandisk and Western Digital rose more than 2% each. Nvidia and Microsoft also ticked higher in early trading.
The moves come after the major U.S. stock benchmarks suffered a losing week, bogged down by selling pressure in tech as investors continued to scrutinize names related to the artificial intelligence buildout.
Still, 3Fourteen Research’s Warren Pies isn’t too concerned. “I just don’t see anything broken with the AI trade fundamentally,” he said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime” on Friday. “Technicals are another story.”
The tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 logged a losing October amid AI spending concerns, with the Nasdaq suffering its worst losses since March 2025. The Dow, however, rose almost 2% as investors rotated into defensive areas like healthcare.
“Rather than running for the hills amid heightened AI risks, investors are seeing plenty of return potential in other types of stocks,” Mike Dickson, head of research and quantitative strategies at Horizon, said in a note last week.
Dickson added that while this week’s midterm elections “have some investors worried that changes in Washington, D.C., could impact the markets, it’s important to remember that stocks tend to stay steady regardless of which party gains control of Congress.”
The elections will be held on Tuesday, when Democrats are expected to take control of the House of Representatives, while Senate control remains uncertain.
Investors are also awaiting October’s nonfarm payrolls reading, which is scheduled for release on Friday and is expected to show an increase of 55,000 jobs on the month, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.
In addition to the closely watched monthly jobs report, a fresh round of earnings releases is also due this week. “Magnificent Seven” member Apple is scheduled to report after the bell on Monday. McDonald’s and Qualcomm are slated to report later in the week.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 benchmark was last 0.1% higher, reversing earlier losses. France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.4%, followed by Germany’s DAX, up 0.3%.