Wall Street pointed toward losses early Thursday and potentially the first losing month since April in what has been a red-hot year for U.S. markets.
Futures for the S&P 500 fell 0.7% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.5%.
Microsoft fell 3.6% overnight after the tech giant reported better profit than expected, but disappointed investors who were looking for bigger AI-related growth.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, also posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, but warned that it expected a “significant acceleration” in infrastructure spending next year as it continues to pour money into developing AI. Meta shares lost 2.6% overnight.
Ebay tumbled 7.2% after it issued a conservative forecast despite meeting Wall Street’s sales and profit expectations.
Online travel company Bookings Holdings, which owns Priceline.com and Kayak, climbed more than 6% after it easily outdistanced analysts’ profit and sales targets.
Uber slid 5.3% after the ride-hailing app after reported that gross bookings growth slowed, overshadowing its strong third-quarter results.
In Europe at midday, France’s CAC 40 slipped 1%, Germany’s DAX fell 0.6% and Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.8%.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dipped 0.5% to finish at 39,081.25. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3% to 8,160.00. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.1% to 20,359.95, while the Shanghai Composite added 0.4% to 3,279.82.
South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.5% to 2,556.15 after North Korea test launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile designed to be able to hit the U.S. mainland in a move that was likely meant to grab America’s attention ahead of Election Day.
Markets also were watching the Bank of Japan, which kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.25%. Japan is also facing political uncertainty after its governing party, tainted by campaign financing scandals, lost its majority in the lower house of parliament in elections last weekend.
Upcoming earnings releases in Asia, as well as the rest of the world, also added to the wait-and-see mood.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 43 cents to $69.04 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 48 cents to $72.64 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar slipped to 152.70 Japanese yen from 153.31 yen. The euro cost $1.0868, up from $1.0858.
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