United States stock futures rose modestly on Sunday evening (Monday AEST), with investors digesting legal and corporate developments over the holiday weekend.
By 9:45 am AEST (11:45 pm GMT), Dow Jones futures climbed 0.2%, S&P 500 futures advanced 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.3%.
The broader market rally, which carried the S&P 500 to new highs last week, lost momentum on Friday as artificial intelligence stocks came under renewed pressure.
Nvidia shares fell on concerns about China, worsened by reports that Alibaba is developing its own AI chip.
The news weighed on other chipmakers, including Advanced Micro Devices, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, and GE Vernova, which had previously shown buying signals despite Nvidia’s earnings-driven volatility.
While the sell-off was not as sharp as January’s DeepSeek episode, uncertainty over China’s role in AI supply chains continues to cloud sentiment, particularly for Nvidia.
By contrast, Alibaba shares surged 12.9% on Friday after reporting earnings results.
In policy developments, a U.S. federal appeals court ruled that most tariffs introduced under President Donald Trump were illegal, a setback to his trade agenda.
The ruling, which was widely expected, is likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court. For now, the tariffs remain in place, and Trump could reinstate similar measures under other legal authorities, suggesting limited near-term market impact.
However, the U.S. government may ultimately face liability to reimburse importers tens of billions of dollars in tariff payments.
Elsewhere, Spirit Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy late Friday for the second time in a year, lifting shares of rivals such as Frontier Airlines.
U.S. markets will remain closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday, though futures trading will continue, with global markets operating as normal.
