U.S. futures are mostly lower as artificial-intelligence stocks come under pressure again and oil prices rose amid sporadic fighting in the Middle East. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.1 per cent on Tuesday, while those for the Nasdaq declined 0.5 per cent. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2 per cent. Shares of South Korea’s AI company Elice Group tumbled 30 per cent on its market debut with investors seemingly wary of the debt being taken on by companies in the sector, with a recent tech selloff gaining momentum again. AI companies perceived as vulnerable because of start-up costs, like CoreWeave in the U.S., are being targeted. Shares of CoreWeave, down 30 per cent this month on such fears, tumbled 4.5 per cent before the market opened. Anxiety over debt in the sector is being fanned due to inflation and rising odds that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike borrowing costs for a second time this year to cool spending and borrowing. Benchmark U.S. crude jumped two per cent to US$100.55 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 1.6 per cent to $111.25 a barrel. Uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the energy industry to return to normal means oil prices are unlikely to ease any time soon. The death toll from a Houthi missile strike on a government military camp in southern Yemen rose to 73 people, all new recruits, making it the deadliest strike since fighting in the country began escalating three months ago, a senior Yemeni government official said Tuesday. An upheaval in Europe is hitting markets there. France’s CAC 40 fell 0.8 per cent to 7,809.10, while the German DAX shed 0.8 per cent to 25,109.83. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.6 per cent to 10,702.16. Rising fuel costs, discontent with the state of schools, declining public services and a housing crisis are fuelling an autumn of protests in Europe. Crowds have protested for weeks in major cities, with some demonstrations marked by arrests, looting, injuries and violence across France, Italy and Albania. Major U.S. companies are also rolling out quarterly results after the bell Tuesday, including Netflix and SpaceX. Netflix announced last week that it plans to lay off about six per cent of its workforce, amounting to nearly 1,000 positions, as the streaming giant makes wider “organizational changes.” The Elon Musk-led SpaceX will be announcing its second quarterly report after going public in June. On Monday Musk pledged to give one share of SpaceX to “every kid in America” next year. The U.S. dollar dropped to 158.14 Japanese yen from 158.46 yen. The euro cost $1.1211, down from $1.1227. By Yuri Kageyama and Michelle Chapman
