By Purvi Agarwal and Sukriti Gupta
(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures nudged lower on Monday after Wall Street’s main indexes rallied to record highs in the previous session, while uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s visa policies also dimmed sentiment.
Markets were pausing after a tech-driven rally on Friday pushed the three indexes to close at record highs for the second consecutive session, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq logging their third consecutive week of gains.
Shares of U.S. technology companies slipped in premarket trading after the Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B working visas, prompting some big tech companies and banks to warn employees to stay in the U.S. or quickly return.
Megacaps such as Microsoft and Amazon.com edged lower, as U.S. tech companies are heavily reliant on skilled workers from India and China.
Cognizant Technology Solutions, JPMorgan and Intel, which rank among the biggest sponsors of H-1B visas, were down 0.4%, 1.8% and 1.3% respectively.
“The H-1B visa has been a key channel for U.S.-based tech, finance, consulting, and services firms to access global skilled talent … the sharp increase in visa fees will raise costs for companies dependent on these workers, with at least some of the burden passed on to end clients,” said analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management.
At 07:22 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 154 points, or 0.33%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 20 points, or 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 84.75 points, or 0.34%.
The Federal Reserve’s expected quarter-point reduction to interest rates last week and indications of more at upcoming meetings added to Wall Street’s recent rally, that was partly fueled by a revived enthusiasm around AI-linked stock trading.
It also boosted optimism around small-cap companies in the U.S., with the Russell 2000 hitting an intraday record high on Friday. Futures linked to the index were down 0.2% in premarket trading.
Wall Street’s three main indexes are in positive territory so far in September – a month deemed historically bad for U.S. equities. The benchmark S&P 500 has shed 1.4% on average in the month since 2000, according to data compiled by LSEG.
A slew of economic data is scheduled for release this week, including that for personal consumption expenditure – the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation – and gross domestic product.
Markets will also parse through comments from a host of policymakers on Monday, including Fed presidents John Williams, Alberto Musalem and newly appointed Governor Stephen Miran.
Kenvue fell 4.8% ahead of the Trump administration’s announcement about its autism findings. A report earlier this month said that the administration planned to announce that Kenvue’s pain medication Tylenol by pregnant women is potentially linked to autism.
Pfizer said it would acquire weight-loss drug developer Metsera in a deal valued up to $7.3 billion. Shares of Pfizer rose 1.7%, while Metsera soared 59.1%.
Compass fell 12.7% after the brokerage firm entered an agreement to acquire rival Anywhere Real Estate in an all-stock deal valued at $4.2 billion. Anywhere’s shares were up 51.2%.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
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