US stock futures were mixed ahead of the final trading session before the Independence Day long weekend, with the key non-farm payrolls report brought forward to Thursday.
Dow Jones futures up 0.2%, the S&P 500 little changed and Nasdaq futures down 0.3% as investors weighed the outlook for interest rates and the AI trade
The caution followed a weak session on Wall Street overnight, when the Nasdaq fell 0.7% to 26,040.03 as semiconductor and AI-related stocks came under renewed pressure. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% to 7,483.23, while the Dow ended little changed, down 0.03% at 52,305.24 after hitting a record intraday high just above 52,742. The latest wobble in the AI trade was led by Caterpillar, which plunged 7% after investor Michael Burry disclosed a bearish position in the stock.
The move wiped 437 points off the Dow and rippled across the broader AI ecosystem. Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth said Caterpillar has become “one of Wall Street’s newest AI beneficiaries”, with investors betting on its exposure to data centre construction, power generation and grid expansion. But at 37 times forward earnings, against an industry average closer to 15 times, he said the shares had become “a bit extended” and were vulnerable to profit-taking.