US Futures Rise as Oil Retreats; Earnings Wave, Fed Decision in Focus

US stock index futures edged higher on Monday as crude oil prices pulled back from last week's surge, lifting sentiment before a week dominated by corporate earnings and the Federal Reserve's rate decision. At 05:19 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 257 points, or 0.49%, S&P 500 E-minis rose 23.25 points, or 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis gained 73 points, or 0.25%. About one-third of S&P 500 companies report earnings this week, including Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.com, whose results will be scrutinized for evidence that heavy AI spending is paying off. Last week, Meta fell after raising its annual AI spending forecast and announcing a stock sale to fund it, while Tesla also declined post-results. "Strong AI demand alone may no longer be enough. Markets want evidence of monetization, margins and cash flow," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo. Neocloud firms have been hit hardest, with CoreWeave and Nebius each losing more than 30% of market value this month; both fell about 3% premarket, while IREN dropped 2.6% and Applied Digital 1.5%. Elon Musk said Sunday that markets have "almost entirely shut off access to money" for companies lacking substantial non-AI revenue, predicting neocloud consolidation, though SpaceX won't acquire any. The Fed's decision is due Wednesday, with a pause widely expected, and September PCE inflation data is due Thursday. Tesla led premarket megacap gains, up 2.1%.