European Shares Seen Lower At Open

(RTTNews) - European stocks may drift lower at open on Thursday, with technology stocks likely to be in focus after the Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX, Broadcom and Oracle were looking to raise money to buy AI chips, leaving investors worried about whether the expected profits will materialize.

Meanwhile, shares of Samsung Electronics fell despite the company posting record profit as a result of surging memory chip prices and relentless spending on artificial-intelligence infrastructure.

U.S. stock futures ticked lower due to concerns over rising bond yields and the outlook for monetary policy.

Rising oil prices in the wake of supply disruptions to the Iran conflict and attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi Arabia also added to inflation concerns.

Asian markets were broadly lower as technology stocks retreated on concerns over a surge in AI-related corporate debt.

Mainland Chinese shares were modestly lower as trading resumed after the National Day Golden Week closure.

Gold traded half a percent higher at $4,133 an ounce as the dollar pulled back from an 18-month high in subdued trading.

Brent crude prices jumped more than 2 percent toward $103 a barrel, reversing losses from the previous session after reports suggested that the White House asked Pentagon to develop options to strike Iran before the midterm elections, but no final decision has been made.

On Wednesday, oil prices rose on fresh concerns about Middle East supplies, before falling after the International Energy Agency agreed to speed up a planned release of oil stocks and prioritize diesel in a bid to curb record-high fuel prices.

U.S. stocks climbed well off their lows but still ended firmly in the red overnight as oil prices fluctuated and yields on government bonds climbed to 24-year highs before pulling back in the wake of a strong $39 billion auction of 10-year Treasury notes.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both slid by 0.2 percent while the narrower Dow gave up 0.7 percent as minutes of the Fed's Sept. 15-16 meeting signaled another interest rate hike would likely be appropriate before year-end, depending on incoming information, the economic outlook and the balance of risks.

In economic releases, new data highlighted the impact of rising borrowing costs in the housing sector.

European stocks closed lower on Tuesday amid France's deepening fiscal crisis and geopolitical uncertainty.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 1 percent. The German DAX lost 1.4 percent, France's CAC 40 tumbled 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.8 percent.