US tech stocks sank before the bell on Tuesday as a sell-off in Korean memory makers underscored concerns about AI circular financing deals, overshadowing a drop in oil prices and earnings optimism.
Contracts on the Nasdaq-100 (NQ=F) fell 0.9%, signaling further losses for the tech-heavy index, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) dropped 0.2%. But Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) edged into the green, up 0.1%.
South Korea's Kospi (^KS11) stock benchmark tumbled over 10% on Tuesday as investors dumped shares in top memory chipmakers SK Hynix (SKHY, 000660.KS) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), which sank more than 14% and 13%, respectively.
Sentiment on the AI trade has soured amid reports that Nvidia (NVDA) is exploring a $250 billion funding backstop for OpenAI (OPAI.PVT), further intertwining the two companies and heightening worries about circular financing. Tech traders also grew nervous that Chinese competition is narrowing the AI gap with US companies, undermining prospects for a payoff.
Oil prices, meanwhile, continued to retreat after the US and Iran halted active fighting and President Trump said the two sides were in diplomatic talks. "There's a good chance that something could happen, and if it does, good," Trump said aboard Air Force One on Monday. "If it doesn't, we go back to doing what we were doing."
The Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, and it's one of the hardest policy decisions for the market to call in years. Traders' bets skew toward the Fed holding rates steady at the end of its meeting on Wednesday, but there isn't conviction, and a rate hike could be on the table.
The deluge of earnings continues as well. Investors will be watching SK Hynix's results due around 8 p.m. ET for insight into the memory trade as AI worries swirl. In addition, many household names, including Visa (V), Coca-Cola (KO), Boeing (BA), Ford (F), and PayPal (PYPL), also report. On the economic front, investors will be monitoring an update on consumer confidence at 10 a.m. ET.