Oil Prices and AI Stocks Send Wall Street Futures Plummeting

Wall Street futures took a hit on Tuesday but managed to bounce back slightly before the opening bell. The decline came as artificial-intelligence stocks continued to slide, partly due to growing safety concerns in the industry.

The main culprit behind this downturn is the rising cost of oil. Benchmark U.S. crude rose by $1.03 to $103.61 a barrel early Tuesday, while Brent crude gained 0.3% to $106.94 a barrel. This surge has led to an increase in gas prices, with regular gasoline now averaging $4.33 per gallon across the country.

The rising cost of oil and gas has heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike its main interest rate for the first time in three years to combat stubbornly high inflation. The Fed's decision would put it at odds with President Donald Trump's push for rate cuts, but markets are still divided on the matter.