Futures and options traders work on the floor of the NYSE American (AMEX) of the New York Stock Exchange on September 8, 2026 in New York City, USA.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
Stock futures fell Sunday night as investors monitored the latest oil developments as well as big swings in the pipeline for artificial intelligence initial public offerings amid growing safety concerns.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures It fell by 179 points (0.4%). S&P500 futures Although it decreased by 0.6%, Nasdaq 100 futures It fell 1.2%.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an interview published Saturday that the AI startup will not go public this year. Just a month after OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar said the company would go public by 2027 at the latest, Altman said an IPO for the ChatGPT maker would be “unwise.”
Dario Amodei, CEO of rival Anthropic, said in an essay on Saturday that AI companies need to slow down the pace of innovation on their best models because of safety risks. Amodei told CBS News on Sunday that the “toughest dilemma” about such a proposal is what would happen if China didn’t do the same.
The AI boom has propelled stock markets to new heights in recent years, sparking a wave of massive spending on corporate technology infrastructure. But this weekend’s developments may indicate that the magnitude of the positive public market impact expected from improved efficiency and a series of large IPOs may not be as clear-cut as previously thought.
Focus on oil
Oil prices rose more than 2% on Sunday night after Saudi Arabia shut down a vital pipeline that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz. With the escalating conflict in the Middle East, US crude oil prices last week exceeded $100 per barrel for the first time since May.
Last week’s rise in crude oil prices pushed down the average of the three major stocks. The Dow fell 1.6%, its biggest weekly decline since March. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell about 0.8% and 0.7%, respectively.
This week, the Fed meets for its September policy meeting. Federal funds futures traders are pricing in about an 86% chance of a rate hike, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.
“Investor strategies going forward will depend on whether the primary driver of today’s tightening rate environment is whether the Fed raises rates or long-term rates,” said Julia Herman, global market strategist at New York Life Investment Management.
No major earnings reports or economic announcements are scheduled for Monday.
