Nasdaq 100 Futures Fall 1.26% as AI Data Center Financing Concerns Mount

Key Facts

Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.26% on the morning of October 15, 2026, as artificial intelligence stocks remained under pressure amid concerns over borrowing costs and financing for data center construction. According to Reuters, futures losses reached 380.25 points at 4:04 a.m. Eastern Time. The decline followed a losing U.S. session on October 14, when the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.9%, according to the Associated Press. The broader S&P 500 fell 1.1% in the same session. The news agency linked pressure on AI stocks to concerns that higher borrowing costs could slow construction of the data centers underpinning the sector's expansion.

In South Korea, the Kospi closed the October 15 session down 7.57% at 5,554.22 points, according to Reuters. A circuit breaker was triggered during the session, halting trading for 20 minutes amid the selloff. Samsung Electronics shares fell 9.5%, a steeper loss than the Korean index's closing decline. SK Hynix shares dropped 11.1% in the same session, also exceeding the losses in the index and Samsung. Pressure thus spread from U.S. futures to the Korean market, where the sharp index decline coincided with larger losses in the two companies' shares, according to Reuters' figures for the session.

In U.S. premarket trading, shares of data center operator CoreWeave fell 4.5% on October 15, according to Reuters. The decline followed a 15% drop in the previous session, extending pressure on the company across both trading periods. The Associated Press had described concerns about financing in the sector by saying that "higher borrowing costs could slow construction of AI data centers." Against that backdrop, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said the consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.6% month on month in September. That followed a monthly increase of 0.4% in August, while consumer prices rose 3.7% year on year in September.

The selloff coincided with a warning issued by Gartner on October 14 about the risks of spending on AI infrastructure. The company said more than $3.5 trillion in spending could face impairment risks by the end of 2030 if the current pace of spending continues. Its statement said that "more than $3.5 trillion in AI infrastructure spending could be at risk of impairment by the end of 2030." Gartner tied that possibility to the continuation of the current pace of spending, framing its warning around investment risks extending through the end of the forecast period. The warning concerns spending on infrastructure that hosts AI applications, amid the concerns reported by the Associated Press about the cost of financing data centers.

In its calculations of the financial viability of these investments, Gartner said AI data center owners need cumulative revenue of $8.5 trillion through 2030. That amount includes the revenue needed to cover announced capital spending, financing costs and the investment return assumed in the calculation. The company assumed a return on invested capital of 12% as the threshold required to justify the investment. By contrast, it projected that enterprise and consumer AI revenue attributable to data centers would not exceed $3.6 trillion over the forecast period. That comparison puts projected revenue below the level Gartner considers necessary to cover costs and deliver the assumed return on capital invested in data centers.

On interest rates, Reuters cited the FedWatch tool as showing that traders priced in a 27% probability of a rate increase at the October meeting on October 15. The implied probability had been 20% a week earlier, reflecting an increase in traders' estimates of the likelihood of tightening over that period. The pricing followed the release of September consumer price data, which showed a faster monthly increase than in August. U.S. producer price data were due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on October 15, according to Reuters. The next Federal Open Market Committee meeting is scheduled for October 27–28, 2026, according to the Federal Reserve's official calendar, following the inflation data and the selloff in AI stocks.