NEW YORK, Feb 6, 2026, 05:58 EST — Premarket
- U.S. stock index futures ticked up before the open, following Thursday’s tech-driven decline
- Big Tech’s AI spending plans continued to weigh heavily, putting Amazon under pressure before the market opened
- Traders are focusing on Fed speakers and next week’s postponed jobs and inflation reports
U.S. stock index futures edged up early Friday, attempting to recover after a steep sell-off in megacap tech stocks the previous session. At 5:11 a.m. ET, S&P 500 futures climbed 0.3%, Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.35%, and Dow futures increased 0.17%, data showed.
Thursday’s selloff hit hard. The S&P 500 dropped 1.23% to 6,798.40, the Nasdaq lost 1.59% to 22,540.59, and the Dow slipped 1.20% to 48,908.72. The declines followed Alphabet’s announcement of up to $185 billion in capital spending planned for 2026, while Amazon fell sharply after hours. “We’re seeing this volatility about whether this investment will translate … into results,” said Tom Hainlin, investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. Reuters
Friday’s trading kicked off with jitters still present. Amazon shares tumbled about 8% in premarket. Investors zeroed in on the rapid rollout of AI products and the hefty price tags attached. Reuters reported that major cloud companies plan to pour over $600 billion into AI deployments. Meanwhile, U.S. software and data firms have lost around $1 trillion in market value since Jan. 28. Neil Wilson, Saxo UK’s investor strategist, warned of “fresh AI bubble fears.” Aarin Chiekrie, an equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, noted that even strong fundamentals haven’t shifted attention away from “ballooning capital investment plans.” Reuters
Rate expectations factored into the conversation. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook described the policy rate this week as merely “ever so mildly restrictive” and suggested holding off on further cuts, citing the easing measures rolled out late last year. Reuters
The crux of the debate boils down to capex—capital spending on data centers, chips, power, and networking. “Hyperscalers,” Wall Street’s nickname for the largest cloud platforms, can move the entire market with their spending decisions since they’re central to the AI supply chain.
Investors will tune in Friday as Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson speaks at noon ET. The Federal Reserve’s consumer credit report follows at 3 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, minutes from the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 meeting are set to drop on Feb. 18.
Next week’s calendar is off-kilter due to recent government reporting hiccups. The Bureau of Labor Statistics now plans to release the January employment report on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The inflation report comes shortly after. According to the BLS release schedule, the January consumer price index will be out Friday, Feb. 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET.
The road ahead isn’t straightforward. If Big Tech continues raising AI spending goals without clear returns, investors might keep offloading the very winners that drove last year’s gains, wiping out any initial rebound in futures almost as fast as it appears.
