U.S. Stocks May Move To The Upside Amid Strength Among AI Names

(RTTNews) - Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Monday, extending the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.5 percent.

The markets may benefit from resumed strength among artificial intelligence stocks, which helped lead a pullback in the middle of last week.

Shares of AI darling and market leader Nvidia (NVDA) are jumping by 1.0 percent in pre-market trading, while shares of Oracle (ORCL) are climbing by 0.9 percent after moving sharply lower over the past several sessions.

Video game maker Electronic Arts (EA) is also surging by 5.4 percent in pre-market trading after announcing an agreement to be acquired by an investor consortium comprised of PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners in an all-cash transaction that values EA at approximately $55 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, EA stockholders will receive $210 per share in cash, representing a 25 percent premium to the stock's unaffected share price of $168.32 at market close on Thursday, September 25th.

However, traders may be somewhat reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

The report, which is expected to show employment rose by 50,000 jobs in September after inching up by 22,000 jobs in August, could impact the outlook for interest rates.

Concerns about a potential U.S. government shutdown may also keep some traders on the sidelines ahead of a deadline at the end of the day on Tuesday.

Not long after the start of trading, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release its report on pending home sales in the month of August. Pending home sales are expected to rise by 0.3 percent in August after falling by 0.4 percent in July.

After turning in a lackluster performance early in the session, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages all moved to the upside, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq rejoining the Dow and the S&P 500 in positive territory after spending time below the unchanged line.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow advanced 299.97 points or 0.7 percent to 46,247.29, the S&P 500 climbed 38.98 points or 0.6 percent to 6,643.70 and the Nasdaq rose 99.37 points or 0.4 percent to 22,484.07.

Despite regaining ground after closing lower for three straight days, the major averages still posted losses for the week. The Nasdaq slid by 0.7 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Dow dipped by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Monday. China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced by 0.9 percent and Hong Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 1.9 percent, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the uptrend and declined by 0.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent, the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are tumbling $1.27 to $64.45 a barrel after climbing $0.74 to $65.72 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after surging $37.90 to $3,809 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are jumping $37.70 to $3,846.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 148.70 yen versus the 147.93 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1737 compared to last Friday's $1.1703.