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Investing.com - U.S. stock futures hover just above the flatline ahead of a week filled with more corporate earnings but a potential dearth of key U.S. economic data. A now more than month-long federal government shutdown puts the publication of another major reading of the U.S. labor market at risk of being delayed. Data analytics titan Palantir is due to report its latest quarterly returns, while U.S. President Donald Trump hints at placing tighter restrictions on exports of Nvidia’s most advanced artificial intelligence-enhanced chips.
1. Futures edge higher
U.S. stock futures were largely in the green on Monday, as investors assessed the outlook for equities following an action-packed trading week.
By 03:08 ET (08:08 GMT), the Dow futures contract was mostly unchanged, S&P 500 futures had climbed by 3 points, or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had inched up by 33 points, or 0.1%.
The main averages of Wall Street ended higher on Friday, finishing off a busy week filled with mega-cap technology sector earnings, central bank interest rate decisions, and face-to-face trade talks between U.S. and Chinese leaders.
Buoyed in part by a jump in shares in Amazon, which unveiled better-than-anticipated quarterly sales, during the session, U.S. stocks notched weekly gains and are now on their longest monthly winning streak in years. The increase in the e-commerce giant’s stock helped to offset a hit to sentiment from Apple’s warning of supply constraints heading into its crucial holiday quarter, and comments from Federal Reserve officials that threatened to pour more cold water on to hopes for more policy easing by the end of 2025.
2. Government shutdown puts nonfarm payroll data release at risk
Attention now turns to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, which is flirting with becoming the longest such closure in American history.
Crucially, the shutdown has left investors and Fed policymakers without a range of critical data points needed to suss out the state of the U.S. economy. Although a reading of inflation for September was released late last month, separate key measures of job growth have not been published.
The trend could continue this week, depriving markets of the latest nonfarm payrolls report, an all-important gauge of employment in the world’s largest economy that is typically released on the first Friday of every month. A tracker of job openings and labor turnover is also set to be postponed.
Despite last week’s raft of consequential events, the shutdown has partially deprived investors of a roadmap for the final two months of the year, analysts at Vital Knowledge said in a note, adding that "in some ways, people are feeling even more confused than before."
Late last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that lawmakers in Washington were making some progress toward a deal to end the shutdown, although President Donald Trump’s demand that Republican senators effectively bypass Democrats in the chamber to reopen the federal government has cast doubt over these discussions.
3. Palantir to report
On the earnings front, data analytics giant Palantir Technologies is slated to report its quarterly returns after the closing bell on Monday.
In August, the company, whose operations also involve software for the the defense sector, lifted its full-year revenue forecast for the second time in 2025, citing strong demand for its AI-linked services from both businesses and governments.
A Trump administration focus on bolstering national security, as well as a change in Pentagon purchasing plans toward commercial and "non-traditional" suppliers, has further boosted the group.
Shares of Palantir have more than doubled so far this year, reflecting investor wagers that the firm will be at the forefront of the AI boom and a major beneficiary of increased U.S. spending on defense-related technology.
Palantir is anticipated to post third-quarter operating profit of $255.6 million on revenue of $1.09 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
4. Trump on foreign access to Nvidia chips
Elsewhere, Trump has said that cutting-edge chips from AI-darling Nvidia will only be available for U.S. companies and not for businesses in China and other countries.
Speaking in an interview with CBS’ "60 Minutes" news program and in other comments on board Air Force One, Trump argued that Nvidia’s advanced Blackwell processors should be reserved for American customers.
"We don’t give" the Blackwell to "other people," he added.
The remarks come after Trump told reporters that he and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping did not talk about access to the Blackwell during their much-hyped meeting in South Korea last week -- despite the U.S. president suggesting in the build-up to the talks that the topic could come up.
But Trump’s latest statement may indicate that he is willing to slap stricter limits on high-end U.S.-made AI technology.
5. Oil extends gains after OPEC+ meeting
Oil prices rose after a group of major producers decided against output hikes in the first quarter of next year, easing fears of a global supply glut.
Brent futures gained 0.7% to $65.20 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.7% to $61.41 a barrel.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed on Sunday to raise output by 137,000 barrels per day in December, the same as for October and November.
This decision had been widely trailed, however the cartel – which has now raised its production quota by about 2.9 million bpd so far in 2025 – also said it will pause its recent production hikes in the first three months of 2026.
OPEC+ cited concerns over a supply glut and sluggish demand, with January-March seen as the weakest quarter for oil demand.