Wall Street Looks Headed For Weak Start

(RTTNews) - Lower U.S. index futures amid concerns about Middle East tensions and a slew of earnings updates from the tech sector suggest a weak start for stocks on Wall Street Thursday morning.

The Dow futures are down 0.61 percent, the S&P futures are lower by 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq futures are down 0.88 percent.

On the economic front, data on initial jobless claims for the week ended July 18 is due at 8:30 AM ET.

In earnings news, Alphabet has raised its capex guidance for the year, raising concerns the spending on AI might result in a substantial drop in free cash flow. The Google parent said it looks to spend over $200 billion on AI infrastructure.

Alphabet's net income rose to $41.39 billion, or $3.31 per share, compared with $28.20 billion, or $2.31 per share, in the prior-year quarter.

The major averages ended lower on Wednesday after a choppy session, as stocks showed a lack of direction following the strength seen in the previous session. Traders were reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of earnings news from tech giants Alphabet, Tesla and IBM Corp.

The Nasdaq slid 146.30 points or 0.6 percent to 25,690.90 and the S&P 500 edged down 10.24 points or 0.1 percent to 7,498.96. Despite spending most of the day in positive territory, the Dow closed down 6.06 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 52,218.58.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks closed broadly higher as renewed AI optimism helped offset escalating Middle East tensions as well as concerns over surging oil prices.

Stocks related to artificial intelligence led the surge despite broader valuation concerns.

The major European markets are down in negative territory as rising oil prices and renewed concerns over spending on AI infrastructure weigh on sentiment.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $4.28 or 4.93 percent at $91.11 a barrel. Gold futures are down $74.40 or 1.79 percent at $4,077.40 an ounce.