U.S. stock futures traded flat on Tuesday morning, holding steady after a broad-based AI rally pushed Wall Street to fresh highs on Monday.
The S&P 500 Futures sat at 7,836.75 points, the Nasdaq 100 Futures were unchanged at 30,785.50, and Dow Jones Futures rested at 52,478.0 points as of 02:30 ET. Investors appeared to be taking a cautious pause ahead of a key geopolitical milestone: Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington on Thursday for his first state visit during President Donald Trump's second term.
Monday's session saw the NASDAQ Composite surge 2.26% to a record closing high of 27,122.09 points, led by a 4.3% jump in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The AI theme dominated. Meta Platforms Inc rallied more than 11% on optimism surrounding its recently launched Muse AI agent. The app, which debuted September 9, briefly overtook OpenAI's ChatGPT on Apple's App Store before Amazon.com Inc blocked it from accessing its retail site. Meta also announced plans for a transoceanic subsea cable connecting the U.S. and France, ahead of its Meta Connect 2026 event scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc climbed 10% to become the latest chipmaker to crack the $1 trillion market capitalization mark.
In commodities, Brent crude briefly dipped below $100 a barrel amid ongoing supply concerns from the Middle East. A major pipeline closure following Houthi offensives against Riyadh has added to strain, alongside a continuing Strait of Hormuz deadlock. Tensions further escalated as Iran warned it would deploy "new weapons" in response to any additional U.S. aggression.
On the trade front, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York on Sunday, where discussions included establishing a U.S.-China AI notification system. The temporary trade truce between the two nations is set to expire in November, adding weight to the upcoming summit.
President Trump stated Sunday he was open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a United Nations gathering in New York on Tuesday.
