Nasdaq Futures Fall 150 Points as Oil Rises and AI Financing Concerns Persist
Key Facts
Nasdaq 100 futures fell 150 points, or 0.5%, before Wall Street opened on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, according to Invezz, as oil rose and technology stocks came under renewed pressure. The website said Brent crude approached $111 a barrel amid concerns over energy supplies. Reuters said concerns over debt and the cost of financing AI expansion had partly contributed to the previous selloff. The weakness in futures followed a stock market recovery on Monday, when investors resumed buying technology shares. Those purchases had followed a selloff across the sector, before AI-related shares fell again in early Tuesday trading.
CoreWeave shares fell 3.1%, while Nebius Group dropped 2.9% in premarket trading, according to Reuters. CoreWeave had lost more than 25% in the week preceding the agency's report published on Monday. Reuters linked that decline to concerns over the company's $50 billion debt, part of broader worries about financing AI infrastructure. In the chip sector, Monday's rebound followed a roughly 15.7% decline in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index's losing streak had extended to 8 consecutive sessions before that rebound, which coincided with investors returning to technology shares.
In energy markets, West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose more than 1% to $105.02 a barrel on Tuesday morning, according to Investing.com. Oil's moves came amid reports of attacks on Saudi facilities and threats to shipping in the region. The Houthis announced they had targeted facilities including an Aramco facility in Yanbu and the Shaybah oilfield, as well as airports, Reuters reported. Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm the claims, and Reuters did not independently verify them. Investing.com quoted Iran's first vice president as saying his country had "no choice but to exercise sovereignty" over the Strait of Hormuz, a statement that heightened supply concerns.
Reuters had cited Iranian media as reporting that an oil tanker caught fire and exploded on Sunday south of the Strait of Hormuz. Those outlets, citing the Revolutionary Guards, said the incident occurred after the tanker struck a naval mine. Kpler estimated average crude flows through the region at about 8.5 million barrels a day during the week preceding the Reuters report dated October 19, 2026. Those flows coincided with increased threats to commercial shipping, according to the report. Developments surrounding the region's supplies thus included reports of a tanker incident alongside claims of attacks on Saudi energy facilities.
Among individual stocks, 3M rose 3.9% before the open, according to Reuters. The shares gained after the company announced an expansion of its commercial relationship with Amazon. The announcement included the issuance of a warrant to purchase shares to an Amazon subsidiary, alongside an expansion of the commercial relationship between the two companies. Meanwhile, Steel Dynamics fell 6.3% in the same trading session. The steelmaker's shares declined after it reported quarterly earnings below expectations, contrasting with 3M's gains linked to its commercial announcement.
On the calendar for Tuesday, October 20, 2026, the U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to release new residential construction data for September 2026. Netflix will also report its quarterly results and business outlook on the same day, according to the company's investor relations statement. Netflix set the release for approximately 1:01 p.m. Pacific Time, adding its results to corporate announcements coinciding with market moves. In the oil market, the U.S. Energy Information Administration sets the standard release time for its weekly petroleum report at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday. These releases will be followed by the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting, scheduled for October 27 and 28, 2026, according to the U.S. central bank's official calendar.