US stock-index futures recovered some ground after last week's chip slide, with the S&P 500 up 0.5% and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.9%. That bounce followed Friday's drop when a closely watched semiconductor gauge marked its longest losing streak since 2008.
Asia did not follow along. MSCI's regional equities measure fell 0.4%, and South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.2% as heavyweight chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix weakened.
Oil and rates were part of the mix. Brent fell 1.7% to about $108 after a surge late last week that brought prices near $110, with traders weighing renewed fighting across the Middle East against ongoing tightness in physical supply. Treasury futures firmed as demonstrations in France and across the rest of Europe spurred haven buying, while the euro weakened versus the dollar.
Earnings take center stage. More than 70 S&P 500 companies report this week, including Tesla and Meta Platforms from the so-called Magnificent Seven, putting results squarely into the conversation around the AI trade. Recent swings in tech, alongside faster US inflation, have stirred concern that weakness could broaden beyond megacaps.
In Melbourne, Kyle Rodda of Capital.com, where he serves as a senior analyst, described markets as being in "a classic period of heightened uncertainty." "Several things are colliding at the same time. AI earnings are coming up, interest rate uncertainty is persistent and the midterms are a few weeks away."
"Equity traders are looking past a world of worries to drive Nasdaq-100 futures substantially higher, signaling there are at least some willing to buy tech dips in anticipation that Tesla and Meta earnings this week will revive AI optimism," wrote Garfield Reynolds, Bloomberg's Markets Live team leader.
Investors are bracing for more turbulence across stocks and bonds as doubts grow over whether heavy spending on AI infrastructure will generate adequate payoffs. Bond-market turbulence gauges remain high, and persistent fuel and food inflation continues to pressure central banks.
Even though Treasuries were favored during the tech selloff, they weakened on Friday as crude advanced. By week's end, Brent moved higher amid skepticism about US President Donald Trump's agreement to increase flows of Russian diesel to global buyers, and with disruptions affecting shipping lanes running from the Strait of Hormuz through to the Black Sea. In credit, Tony Crescenzi, PIMCO market strategist and portfolio manager, told Bloomberg This Weekend that bond buyers are signaling tougher lending conditions, pointing to rising US interest costs together with the selloff in CoreWeave debt, especially for issuers with more uncertain cash generation.
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The euro underperformed other major currencies as turmoil across several French cities intensified, bringing police and protesters into direct confrontation, and resulting in looting and fires at notable sites. Protests spread further, reaching Belgium, Italy and Portugal.
Chinese assets stay in focus after officials acted last week to bolster equities, pressing corporations and state-backed funds to purchase shares and steering certain investors to limit sales. Those measures came on the heels of a decline that drove the CSI 300 Index down to levels not seen since August 2025.
China releases fresh data Monday, including third quarter GDP. Bloomberg's poll of economists points to a mild rebound in growth, yet softness in consumer spending, tepid private investment, and an extended property slump continue to weigh. Market participants will also seek policy guidance as senior financial policymakers, including People's Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng, take the stage at the 2026 Financial Street Forum, which begins Monday.
Speculation on further easing has grown, as shown by China's one year interest rate swap sliding to a trough not seen since April 2020 during the past week. A team at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, headed by Joseph Capurso, expects a "two-speed economy" to persist, characterized by robust export-oriented factory output alongside soft household demand.
The bottom line: a packed earnings calendar, China's macro readout, and cross currents in energy and rates set up a choppy week for stocks, bonds and commodities. Keep an eye on AI bellwethers and oil's pull on yields to track where risk appetite lands.
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