Wall St futures mixed as tech wobbles again, Tesla gains

Oct 16 (Reuters) - US stock index futures ‌were mixed on ​Friday, ​as technology stocks came under fresh pressure on worries about cracks building in the AI trade, though a rise in Tesla shares and decline in oil prices ‌offered support.

The electric vehicle maker rose 4.4% in premarket trading after unveiling a redesigned ⁠Roadster, powered by rocket-style thrusters, developed in collaboration with SpaceX, whose shares climbed 2.1%.

Cautionary signs persisted in the AI sector ‌as Nvidia-backed CoreWeave slipped 4.1%, ‌after Thursday's rebound, on lingering concerns about the data centre operator's debt load.

Other neocloud firms Nebius Group and Iren dipped 2% each while chipmakers Micron Technology and Broadcom fell 1.7% and ​0.4%, respectively.

AI stocks have cratered this week as investors who have crowded into bets all along the AI supply chain worry that data centre operators might not turn profitable in ⁠time to repay debts, particularly with borrowing costs expected to rise.

Some of these stocks have risen sharply this year, helping push ​benchmarks S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record highs as recently as last week.

"When you've this incredibly bullish narrative matched with incredibly bullish outcomes but the ​stock declines, that is the sort of technical signal ‌that tells you there's too many people in the pool," said James Athey, fixed-income portfolio manager at Marlborough.

The selloff in AI stocks sparked a rotation ⁠into defensive sectors such as healthcare on Thursday, helping the main indexes close slightly higher.

Still, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were set to post weekly losses as an AI-led rout, mixed earnings from big banks ⁠and inflation data weighed on sentiment through the week.

The Dow, however, remained on track for a weekly advance.

Markets ​increasingly expect the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged this month. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said the US economy remained resilient and was benefiting from an AI-driven investment boom. He, however, noted the spending surge was ‌boosting inflation.

At 6:21 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 204 points, or 0.39%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 12.5 points, or 0.16%. Nasdaq ‌100 E-minis were down 23.5 points, or 0.08%.

Further supporting risk appetite, oil prices fell nearly 1%, though ⁠Brent crude remained above the $100-a-barrel mark. [O/R]

Among other ‌movers, Varonis Systems climbed 2.3% ​after Thoma Bravo's Proofpoint agreed to buy the data security firm in a $6.3 billion all-cash deal.

(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Vidya Ranganathan; Editing by ‌Joyjeet Das)

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