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Wall Street futures edged lower Wednesday evening as disappointing quarterly results from Oracle reignited concerns about the sustainability of artificial intelligence spending, overshadowing dovish signals from the Federal Reserve. The tech sector faced renewed pressure after Oracle’s weaker-than-expected earnings and sharply increased capital expenditure outlook raised doubts about how the cloud giant plans to finance its aggressive data-center expansion tied to AI demand.
S&P 500 futures slipped 0.2% to 6,877.75 by 19:39 ET (00:39 GMT), while Nasdaq 100 futures declined nearly 0.4% to 25,702.75. Dow Jones futures were relatively flat at 48,123.0. Investors grew cautious as Oracle shares tumbled as much as 10% in after-hours trading, dragging major AI-linked stocks lower. Nvidia dipped 1.3%, while CoreWeave slid more than 3%. Other semiconductor leaders—including AMD, TSMC, Broadcom, and Marvell—also saw declines between 0.6% and 2% after Oracle’s outlook suggested uncertainties around converting massive AI investments into meaningful revenue.
The company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings fell short of expectations, and its expanded spending plans raised fresh concerns about its mounting debt load, fueled by multiple bond issuances this year to fund AI infrastructure. The ripple effect across the tech sector underscored growing investor sensitivity toward AI-related capital expenditures and profitability timelines.
Despite the tech pullback, Wall Street closed higher earlier in the day after the Federal Reserve delivered a widely anticipated 25-basis-point rate cut and signaled a more accommodative stance. Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted a higher threshold for future cuts but announced immediate purchases of roughly $40 billion per month in short-dated Treasury bills to support liquidity. The move boosted risk sentiment, lifting the S&P 500 by 0.7%, the Nasdaq Composite by 0.3%, and the Dow Jones by 1.1%.
Investors now turn their attention to upcoming earnings from Broadcom and Costco, with Micron set to report next week, keeping market volatility elevated as AI-driven spending remains under scrutiny.
