Global stocks slip with earnings and US-Iran tensions in focus

US futures and European stocks fell on Thursday as investors zeroed in on company earnings while tensions between the United States and Iran kept markets on edge and supported oil prices and gold.

Europe's STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab fell 0.7% as shares in planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA), opens new tab and miner Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), opens new tab dropped after their earnings reports underwhelmed the market.

The index hit a record the previous day as a rally in defence and banking shares helped investors shake off worries about artificial intelligence disrupting companies.

Futures for the U.S. S&P 500 and tech-focused Nasdaq fell 0.34% and 0.44% respectively as the volatility driven by worries about disruption from A.I. appeared to continue.

Wall Street rallied on Wednesday, driven by Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab saying it signed a multi-year deal to sell Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab millions of artificial intelligence chips.

Yet Nvidia, Meta and other tech firms such as Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab were lower in pre-market trading.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said geopolitics was a factor.

"Rising U.S.-Iran tensions are adding a layer of uncertainty, and we're already seeing that play out in higher oil prices, which are dampening sentiment more broadly."

U.S. mega-cap tech stocks, as well as sectors like software and trucking, have had a shaky month as traders have tried to work out which companies are most at risk from A.I.

Yet a resilient global economy and rotation into other sectors have helped indices trade at or near record highs around the world.    �"Reuters