Stock Futures Steady as Anthropic Rally Stalls, Israel Election in Focus

By Joe Stonor

Stock futures were steady after an Anthropic-powered tech rally in the last session lost pace, while politics remained in focus as oil prices rose amid crucial Israeli election.

Tech stocks rebounded Monday after Anthropic's filing for its mammoth initial public offering lifted the market mood around artificial-intelligence expansion. Asian tech stocks rose in turn, supporting tech-heavy indexes in South Korea and Japan to gains overnight.

That rally lost steam Tuesday, however, as chip stocks and hyperscalers traded mixed premarket. Nasdaq futures slipped 0.2%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were flat. Investors await earnings from big tech companies later this week for further direction on the AI buildout.

"The debate has shifted from whether companies will spend on AI to whether those investments can generate attractive returns within a reasonable timeframe," said UniCredit strategist Tobias Keller. "That scrutiny matters after a year in which technology has again accounted for a disproportionate share of the wider market's advance."

Treasurys were little moved in early trade. Investors await Wednesday's Federal Reserve policy decision and subsequent comments from Chair Kevin Warsh. Markets currently price an 89.5% likelihood the policy rate will be held steady, according to LSEG. Two-year yields edged slightly lower to trade around 4.710%, while ten-year yields held below 5%.

Oil prices rose in the European morning, reversing earlier falls as traders watch diplomatic efforts to avoid a renewed escalation between the U.S. and Iran. Tuesday's Israeli election is in focus. Benchmark Brent crude oil contracts climbed 0.5% to trade above $116 a barrel.

Gold prices edged toward $4,000 a troy ounce, as a stronger dollar continued to damp gold's prospects. The U.S. dollar index rose 0.2%, while bitcoin slipped below $80,000.

For the day ahead, investors will watch the outcome of the Israeli election and the subsequent coalition wrangling closely. Macro releases include U.S. October consumer confidence data and Richmond Fed manufacturing and business conditions data. Visa, Coca-Cola and Boeing are among companies reporting earnings.

Write to Joe Stonor at josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2026 05:43 ET (09:43 GMT)