US stock futures creep higher after bruising losses on tariffs, AI jitters

U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on Monday evening after heightened uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s tariffs and fears of AI-driven disruptions in software sparked deep losses on Wall Street.

Uncertainty over a brewing U.S.-Iran conflict, while caution ahead of closely watched earnings from NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), due this week, also weighed.

S&P 500 Futures rose less than 0.1% to 6,855.0 points by 19:30 ET (00:30 GMT). Nasdaq 100 Futures rose 0.1% to 24,781.0 points, while Dow Jones Futures rose nearly 0.1% to 48,873.0 points.

Fedex sues Trump admin over tariff refunds
FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) on Monday evening filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, seeking a “full refund” for the emergency tariffs paid over the past year.

The lawsuit comes just days after the levies were ruled as illegal by the U.S. Supreme Court, and are now set to be lifted from midnight, Tuesday.

Fedex is the first company to seek refunds after the Supreme Court decision, and joins a whole host of firms legally challenging Trump’s tariffs.

But the Supreme Court decision left it unclear just what will be done with the revenue collected from Trump’s illegal tariffs, which is estimated at more than $160 billion.

Wall St walloped by tariff uncertainty, AI fears
Wall Street indexes slid over 1% apiece on Monday, as a mix of uncertainty over Trump’s tariffs, coupled with fears of artificial intelligence developments disrupting the software industry, saw investors remain broadly risk-averse.
Sentiment towards tech also remained weak in anticipation of quarterly earnings from NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), due on Wednesday. The world’s most valuable company is widely regarded as a bellwether for AI demand, and is expected to clock strong earnings growth from last year.

Markets fretted over the future of Trump’s tariffs, after the president announced a 15% universal tariff under a separate legal framework. A report from the Wall Street Journal also showed Trump considering additional tariffs on at least six more industries.

Trump was seen largely doubling down on his tariff agenda, even as several countries that Washington had signed trade agreements with in the past year were now seen seeking greater clarity on his tariffs.

Trump also warned of higher tariffs if countries backed away from recently negotiated trade deals.

The S&P 500 fell 1%, while the NASDAQ Composite shed 1.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average led losses with a 1.7% drop.

Tech continued to underperform, with software stocks hit with a fresh wave of selling amid growing concerns over AI-linked disruptions in the sector.

Part of this was tied to a speculative report from Citrini Research that outlined a hypothetical scenario set in June 2028 where AI disruption would have triggered widespread displacement in white-collar employment.