Futures mixed as chip equipment, auto stocks decline; rate-pause hopes support sentiment

Applied Materials, Lam Research and KLA Corp dropped over 2% each after Reuters reported Taiwan's TSMC, the world's top chipmaker, had asked vendors to delay delivery of high-end chipmaking equipment, weighing down Nasdaq futures. Automakers Ford Motor and General Motors shed 2% each before the bell after the United Auto Workers union launched simultaneous strikes at three factories owned by the "Detroit Three", including Chrysler-owner Stellantis, marking the most ambitious U.S. industrial labor action in decades.