By Shashwat Chauhan and Ragini Mathur
Feb 27 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures slid on Friday as growing AI unease dragged on tech stocks, with the Nasdaq on track for its steepest monthly drop since March 2025, and investors awaited key inflation data later in the day.
Technology stocks saw immense turbulence this month due to AI concerns, even as investors fretted about the payoff from massive planning spending on artificial-intelligence technology.
Brewing tariff uncertainty also stoked volatility after the U.S. Supreme Court last week voided most of the duties U.S. President Donald Trump imposed last year. In response, Trump announced a temporary global tariff of 10% that came into effect on Tuesday.
Nvidia shares inched 0.1% lower in premarket trading after sliding more than 5% in the previous session despite strong earnings, a sign that risk sentiment for all things AI remained shaky.
“It’s easy to feel anxious when the tech darlings that carried the market stumble,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management.
“We are witnessing a true market rotation, where opportunities are broadening out beyond a handful of megacap tech stocks and flowing into value stocks, small-caps and industrial sectors.”
Zscaler lost 10.5% after the cloud security firm reported a wider net loss in the second quarter, while Intuit dipped 3.1% after the financial software company forecast third-quarter profit below estimates.
Software shares were rocked earlier this year on fears of industrywide AI-led disruptions. Financial brokerages, data analytics and legal services, real estate services and trucking are also hit hard by brewing AI concerns.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq clocked losses in the last session, with the Nasdaq closing below its 50-day moving average for the 17th straight session. The closely followed moving average is seen as a proxy for the intermediate-term trend.
However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was set to log 10 straight months of gains.
In economic data, a January producer prices reading due before the bell could offer insights into the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate path.
At 07:31 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis lost 294 points, or 0.59%, S&P 500 E-minis fell 27.75 points, or 0.4%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis shed 98.25 points, or 0.39%.
Most megacap and growth stocks inched lower. Chip stocks including AMD and Broadcom also declined.
Netflix added 8.1% as investors cheered its decision to exit the fight for Warner Bros Discovery, which fell 1.4%. Paramount Skydance rose 7.5% after winning the race for some of the world’s most prized TV and film assets.
Block surged 20% after the payments firm said it would cut over 4,000 jobs, nearly half its workforce, as part of an overhaul to embed artificial intelligence across its operation.
Dell climbed 12.1% after the PC-maker said it expects revenue from its key AI-optimized servers business to double in fiscal year 2027 and promised to return more cash to shareholders.
Duolingo dropped 24.2% after the language-learning app forecast first-quarter and 2026 bookings below expectations.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
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