NEW YORK, Feb 9, 2026, 06:07 (ET) — Premarket
- Dow E-minis are up 0.09%. S&P 500 E-minis slip 0.05%, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis drop 0.2%.
- Investors are eyeing the rescheduled January payrolls report set for Wednesday, with January CPI expected Friday.
- Kroger shares jumped after a report surfaced about its CEO, while Hims sank following news it’s pulling its $49 weight-loss pill.
Early Monday, U.S. stock index futures sent a mixed signal: Dow E-minis climbed 46 points, but S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 E-minis ticked down. Tech stocks had taken a hit lately, and now the focus is on several upcoming Fed speakers and critical data releases. 1
This has become relevant after last week’s selloff, which went beyond jitters over stretched valuations. The question hanging over the market: will artificial intelligence — software capable of imitating human tasks — start eroding margins for some companies before showing up as a real engine of growth?
The calendar could end up deciding—or at the very least, shake up expectations. A weaker jobs report drags those rate-cut bets closer, while a burst of inflation can just as fast push them back.
The Dow took center stage Friday, surging 1,206.95 points, or 2.47%, and closing at 50,115.67. That’s the first time it’s ended a session above 50,000, as investors moved their money out of high-growth tech into other corners of the market. 2
“AI spending” won’t let up. Companies keep touting those capital budgets—datacenters, semis, infrastructure—while investors are watching for proof the cash turns into actual sales instead of just swelling costs.
Premarket action saw software stocks holding fairly steady—Datadog, CrowdStrike, Atlassian, and ServiceNow all up just a bit. Traders are already looking ahead to Nvidia’s earnings, due later this month, considered a major test for the AI trade.
First up this week: January’s nonfarm payrolls, pushed to Wednesday after a partial U.S. government shutdown. Then on Friday, the January consumer price index lands. Rate bets could shift quickly if the numbers throw a curveball on wages or core inflation.
Earnings season hasn’t wrapped yet. So far, 77% of the 293 S&P 500 names reporting have cleared analyst expectations, LSEG data shows—that’s better than the 67% long-term average for beats.
Kroger shares jumped roughly 6% ahead of the bell after a Wall Street Journal piece said the grocer tapped ex-Walmart executive Greg Foran to take over as CEO. “(We) believe he brings instant credibility,” wrote Evercore ISI’s Michael Montani, who cited Foran’s performance at the helm of Walmart’s U.S. business. 3
Healthcare names were active. Eli Lilly ticked up, but Hims & Hers dropped after yanking its $49 semaglutide-based weight-loss pill—a move that followed pushback from Novo Nordisk and U.S. regulators. Semaglutide powers Novo’s Wegovy and Ozempic. “The FDA is not only declaring war on Hims & Hers’ Wegovy pill, but (compounded) GLP‑1s in general,” AL Sydbank analyst Soren Lontoft Hansen said. Compounded drugs, for context, are custom-mixed outside mainstream approvals. 4
Over the weekend, Washington tossed another topic into the markets mix. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, speaking with Fox News, downplayed expectations for a rapid Fed balance sheet reduction—even with President Donald Trump’s pick, Kevin Warsh, in line for Fed chair. “I wouldn’t expect them to do anything quickly,” Bessent said. 5
Still, it’s a shaky setup. Should payrolls or CPI print above forecasts, traders may trim those mid-year rate cut wagers and send bond yields climbing—the sort of move that usually lands hardest on long-duration growth stocks.
Right now, focus shifts to what Fed officials have to say later Monday, along with key data coming up Wednesday and Friday—jobs numbers land Feb. 11, inflation follows Feb. 13—before Nvidia’s earnings later this month throw the AI narrative back into the spotlight.
