S&P 500 futures fell on Thursday as Oracle’s results reignited fears about high-flying tech stocks even after the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate cut gave a boost to U.S. equity markets in the prior session. Futures tied to the broad market index slid 0.3%, while Nasdaq 100 futures shed 0.5%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures traded around the flatline. Oracle shares tumbled 13% after the cloud computing company posted disappointing quarterly revenue and raised its spending forecast, heightening concerns about the company’s debt. The report added more fuel to the debate about how quickly tech companies will be able to see returns on their AI investments. Other AI plays were also trading lower in extended trading, including Nvidia and AMD, which were each down more than 1%. CoreWeave fell 5%. The moves put a damper on the momentum garnered during the previous session, which saw the S&P 500 close just inches away from a new record after a divided Fed announced an interest rate cut for the third time this year and ruled out a rate hike. The central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee cut its key overnight borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point to a 3.5%-3.75% range and signaled a slower pace of rate cuts ahead. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is ”’well positioned to wait and see how the economy evolves” and noted President Donald Trump’s tariffs have been a driver of inflation. Along with the three major indexes finishing Wednesday’s session in the green, the Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks notched a record close. Smaller companies tend to benefit more from lower rates than larger companies because their borrowing costs are more closely linked to market rates. Although markets rallied toward the latter half of Wednesday’s session, some investors suggest being cautious ahead given that the central bank remains in a wait-and-see mode over the path of future monetary policy. “We’re not surprised to see near term optimism in the markets given that the Fed continues to cut rates even though the economy is growing, however, we think the rose colored glasses may come off once investors realize that the path to lower interest rates may take longer — or may not materialize at all — to the extent that they believe it will,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Northlight Asset Management. F.L. Putnam Investment Management chief market strategist Ellen Hazen said that greater uncertainty regarding future interest rates and conflicting data around the state of the U.S. economy could “lead to higher volatility and risk premia across risk markets like equities as we go into 2026.” Asia-Pacific markets gave up earlier gains to trade mostly lower Thursday, following the Federal Reserve’s third rate cut of the year. Japan’s Nikkei 225 started the day in positive territory, but fell 0.9% to close at 50,148.82. The Topix was also down 0.94% to 3,357.24. South Korea’s Kospi also reversed course to dip 0.59% and end at 4,110.6, marking a third straight day of losses. The small-cap Kosdaq was marginally below the flatline and finished at 934.64. Hong Kong Hang Seng index was fractionally down in its final hour of trade, but mainland China’s CSI 300 saw a bigger loss of 0.86% to end at 4,552.18, also notching a third straight losing streak. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 inched up 0.15%, ending the day at 8,592. Oil prices eased on Thursday as investors shifted focus back to Russia-Ukraine peace talks and monitored potential fallout from a U.S. seizure of a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Brent crude futures were down 82 cents, or 1.3%, at $61.39 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 79 cents, also 1.3%, to $57.67 a barrel. Gold edged lower on Thursday, as traders weighed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s divided vote on a quarter-percentage-point interest rate cut, while silver climbed to yet another record high. Spot gold fell 0.2% to $4,220.09 per ounce, as of 0947 GMT. U.S. gold futures for February delivery gained 0.5% to $4,247.50 per ounce. “It’s just an overpositioning (in gold) in expectation of the rate cut, which did happen, and therefore you’re seeing some selling pressure,” said independent analyst Ross Norman, adding that gold’s fundamentals remained intact.