U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday, building on gains from last week as a flurry of AI-related dealmaking and softer labor market trends bolstered expectations for an interest-rate cut.

Market Snapshot

At 8:00 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 86 points, or 0.18%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 22.25 points, or 0.33%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 204.75 points, or 0.82%.

Pre-Market Movers

AMD, Nvidia, Broadcom - AMD said on Monday it will supply artificial intelligence chips to OpenAI in a multi-year deal that would bring in tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue and give the ChatGPT creator the option to buy up to roughly 10% of the chipmaker. AMD shares soared 31% in premarket trading, while Nvidia fell 0.5%, Broadcom dropped 0.8%.

Tesla - Tesla on Sunday teased an October 7 event, as investors and analysts await a more affordable model to sustain sales momentum, sending shares of the company 2.2% higher in premarket trading.

Palantir - Palantir was up 2.9% in premarket trading. Shares of Palantir, which sells artificial-intelligence software to manage and analyze large amounts of data, fell 7.5% on Friday after a report said there were security flaws in a communications platform designed for the U.S. Army. Reuters reported a recent internal Army memo said the company's prototype battlefield communications network was rife with "fundamental security" problems and vulnerabilities, and should be treated as a "very high risk." A Palantir spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal the "security review process during the experimental phase of NGC2 functioned as designed." Palantir is developing NGC2 with Anduril Industries.

Critical Metals - Shares of Critical Metals surged 70.4% in premarket trading on Monday after Reuters reported the Trump administration is discussing taking an equity stake in the development-stage mining company, citing four people familiar with the talks. If completed, the deal would give the U.S. government a direct interest in Greenland's largest rare earths project.

Plug Power - H.C. Wainwright raised its price target on Plug Power to $7.00 from $3.00 on Friday, while maintaining a Buy rating on the hydrogen fuel cell company. The shares soared 34.6% on Friday and jumped another 15% in premarket trading on Monday.

Micron Technology - Morgan Stanley upgraded Micron Technology from Equalweight to Overweight on Monday, raising its price target to $220.00 from $160.00. Micron shares gained 4.9% in premarket trading on Monday.

Firefly Aerospace - Space tech firm Firefly Aerospace will acquire national security technology company SciTec for about $855 million, the company said on Sunday, just months after its Nasdaq listing, honing its portfolio at a time when U.S. military and civil programs are receiving increased investor interest. Firefly shares jumped 9.2% in premarket trading.

UiPath - UiPath shares jumped 10.9% in premarket trading on Monday. The automation solutions company last week announced an array of new collaborations with Nvidia, OpenAI, Snowflake and Google.

Archer Aviation - Archer Aviation stock saw a spike in retail investor chatter late Sunday after the company’s demonstration of its Midnight aircraft in an airshow, as well as continued speculation about a potential tie-up with Elon Musk’s Tesla. The airtaxi maker’s stock surged 13.7% on Friday, and jumped another 4.1% in premarket trading on Monday.

Fifth Third, Comerica - U.S. bank Fifth Third on Monday agreed to buy regional lender Comerica in an all-stock deal valued at $10.9 billion, aiming to expand its presence in key growth markets. The deal will create a lender with combined assets of about $288 billion, making it the ninth-largest U.S. bank. Comerica shares jumped 11.3% before the bell, while Fifth Third fell 4.5%.

Crypto Stocks - Crypto stocks gained with bitcoin near all-time highs. Bitfarms rose 7%; Circle and Riot Platforms rose 5%; BitMine and MARA Holdings rose 4%; Bullish, SharpLink Gaming, and Strategy rose 3%; Coinbase rose 2%.

Gold Stocks - Gold prices touched an all-time high on Monday, soaring above the $3,900-per-ounce level, as investors flocked to safe-haven bullion amid the U.S. government shutdown, broader economic uncertainty, and prospects of further Federal Reserve rate cuts. Gold stocks gained in premarket trading. Anglogold Ashanti and US Gold rose 3%; Harmony Gold, Coeur Mining, Hecla Mining, and Barrick Mining rose 2%.

Market News

AMD Signs AI Chip-Supply Deal with OpenAI, Gives It Option to Take a 10% Stake

AMD said on Monday it will supply artificial intelligence chips to OpenAI in a multi-year deal that would bring in tens of billions of dollars in annual revenue and give the ChatGPT creator the option to buy up to roughly 10% of the chipmaker.

The deal offers OpenAI an opportunity to take a stake in one of Nvidia's most formidable rivals and is a powerful endorsement of Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD's) AI chips and software.

As part of the arrangement, AMD issued a warrant that gives OpenAI the ability to buy up to 160 million shares of AMD for 1 cent each over the course of the chips deal. The warrant vests in tranches based on milestones that the two companies have agreed on.

US Federal Shutdown Enters Sixth Day as Threat of Layoffs Looms

The U.S. government shutdown entered its sixth day on Monday, with President Donald Trump's Republicans and congressional Democrats still at an impasse and the White House threatening to ramp up pressure by ordering mass layoffs of federal workers.

The Republican-led Senate was slated to vote again on dueling measures to fund federal agencies, including a Republican stopgap bill approved by the House of Representatives that would fund operations through November 21, and a Democratic alternative. Neither was expected to receive the 60 votes needed to advance.

Asked on Sunday night when the government would begin laying off federal workers, Trump said: "It's taking place right now." He blamed Democrats for the impasse but did not elaborate on the layoff plans. The White House has said thousands could be fired if the shutdown persists.

France in Crisis as Government Quits Just Hours After Being Appointed

France's new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and his government resigned on Monday, hours after Lecornu announced his cabinet line-up, in a major deepening of France's political crisis that drove stocks and the euro sharply lower.

The swift, unexpected resignation came after allies and foes alike threatened to topple the new government, with Lecornu saying that meant he could not do his job.

Opposition parties immediately urged President Emmanuel Macron to resign, or call a snap parliamentary election, saying there was no other way out of the crisis.

Lecornu, who was Macron's fifth prime minister in two years, stayed in the job for only 27 days. His government lasted 14 hours, making it the shortest-lived in modern French history at a time when parliament is deeply divided and the euro zone's second-largest economy is struggling to put its finances in order.