U.S. equity futures pointed to a mixed open on Monday, with investors balancing a rebound in technology shares against a fresh inflation reading and an escalating governance crisis at the world’s most valuable chipmaker.

Contracts tied to the S&P 500 hovered near the flat line at 7,403.50, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.2% to 27,033.75. Dow Jones futures added 0.4% to 51,605.0. The split screen reflects a market that is still trying to decide whether last week’s rout in artificial intelligence stocks was a healthy shakeout or the start of something deeper.

At the center of the unease is Nvidia (NVDA), whose shares came under pressure in overnight trading after the board disclosed it had opened an independent investigation into reports that Chief Executive Jensen Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The company said Sunday that directors were examining the matter, and Huang has apologized to employees after acknowledging an affair with businesswoman Alice Huang, whom U.S. intelligence agencies suspect of being a Chinese spy. Alice Huang is affiliated with Megaspeed, a company described as an Nvidia customer.

The disclosure lands at an awkward moment. Nvidia has been the single biggest engine of the AI trade, and any question about the chief executive’s judgment or the company’s internal controls gives skeptics a new reason to trim exposure to the sector.

Inflation data takes center stage

The week’s economic calendar is dominated by two price reports. The October consumer price index is due Tuesday, with the producer price index following on Friday. Both will be parsed for signs of whether inflation is cooling fast enough to let the Federal Reserve ease off, or whether policymakers will feel compelled to tighten further.

Traders currently assign roughly an 80% probability to another rate increase at the Fed’s December 8-9 meeting, according to CME FedWatch. The central bank held its benchmark rate at 3.75% to 4.00% at its October gathering, having delivered its first hike in three years in September. Futures markets imply about two more quarter-point moves in this cycle, which would lift the target range to 4.25%-4.50%.

A hotter-than-expected CPI print would reinforce those bets. A softer one would give the bulls room to argue that the worst of the tightening is behind them.

AI earnings under the microscope

Corporate results this week will test whether demand for AI infrastructure is holding up. CoreWeave (CRWV), the cloud computing provider at the heart of the data-center buildout, reports Tuesday. Applied Materials (AMAT) and Cisco Systems (CSCO) follow on Thursday. A crowded slate of smaller names also reports, including Rocket Lab, AST SpaceMobile, Lucid, Archer Aviation, Hims & Hers Health, D-Wave Quantum and Nebius.

CoreWeave’s stock has been battered in recent weeks, and its outlook will be read as a proxy for spending plans across the industry.

DateEventTuesday, Nov 10October CPI; CoreWeave earningsThursday, Nov 12Cisco and Applied Materials earningsFriday, Nov 13October PPIDec 8-9Federal Reserve policy meeting

Note: Dates reflect the scheduled releases cited in the reports.

A market still nursing wounds

The backdrop is a sharp reversal in sentiment. The Nasdaq Composite fell 3.4% last week, the S&P 500 lost 2.7% and the Dow dropped 0.9%, even after Friday’s partial bounce, when the tech-heavy index gained 1.1% and the S&P 500 added 0.3% while the Dow slipped 0.5%. Thursday’s session was the ugliest: the Nasdaq plunged 5.5%, the S&P 500 fell 4.4% and the Dow lost 3.4%, pushing the Nasdaq into correction territory, down nearly 12% from its early-October record.

Part of the selling was tied to the Democratic Party’s midterm election victories, which investors fear could bring tighter regulation of AI development and data-center construction. Democrats also won key governorships in states such as Texas, where data-center building is concentrated, after voters there raised environmental and other concerns about rapid expansion.

The CBOE Volatility Index spiked to a seven-month high during Thursday’s selloff, a sign of how unsettled positioning has become. State Street’s senior global macro strategist, Marvin Loh, described the momentum behind the trade as “pretty fragile,” pointing to the regulatory and political overhang that he expects to persist until investors can properly gauge how severe a slowdown is being priced in.

Others see room for relief. Natixis Investment Managers portfolio strategist Garrett Melson said that if CoreWeave can offer even a slightly more cautiously optimistic outlook on getting its data-center projects approved, “I think that helps alleviate some of the concerns” now weighing on the group.

For now, the market’s next move rests on two numbers: Tuesday’s CPI and CoreWeave’s guidance. Both arrive within 48 hours of each other, and either one alone could set the tone for the rest of the month.