US pre-open: Futures in the red as markets digest earnings, oil spike

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were in the red ahead of the opening bell on Thursday as investors digested another round of earnings, renewed concerns over AI‑related spending and a fresh jump in oil prices. As of 1230 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.40%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.37% and 0.41% softer, respectively.

The Dow closed just 6.06 points lower on Wednesday as investors digested another batch of corporate earnings, while geopolitical tensions continued to simmer in the background.

As for Thursday, tech earnings were firmly in focus prior to the open after Alphabet, IBM and Tesla reported overnight. Google parent company Alphabet posted stronger‑than‑expected Q2 revenues, rising to $119.80bn against $116.93bn forecast, driven by an 82% surge in cloud revenue, although adjusted earnings per share of $2.85 came in just shy of expectations.

Tesla, meanwhile, delivered weaker‑than‑expected Q2 earnings despite topping revenue forecasts, reporting adjusted EPS of $0.33 versus $0.51 expected on revenue of $28.24bn, while IBM lowered its 2026 outlook and posted softer quarterly profits, with adjusted EPS of $2.93 missing estimates and revenue of $17.16bn falling short of consensus.

As far as Thursday's earnings slate goes, American Airlines, T-Mobile, Lockheed Martin and Comcast were all scheduled to report before the open, while Intel will publish its latest batch of quarterly numbers after the close.

On the macro front, weekly jobless claims from the Labor Department and the Chicago Federal Reserve's June national activity index will be released at 1330 BST, while the Kansas Fed's July manufacturing activity index will follow at 1600 BST.

Crude prices also pushed higher early on Thursday after a tanker was hit by an unidentified projectile off Saudi Arabia and Donald Trump threatened strikes on Iranian infrastructure. Brent crude futures rose 2.89% to $96.79 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate futures gained 2.14% to $88.69 a barrel.









Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com