Stock futures were lower Thursday as investors digested a batch of Big Tech earnings. Losses were kept in check after a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 165 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures slid 0.3%, while Nasdaq-100 futures declined 0.5%. Megacap tech giants Alphabet, Meta and Microsoft each reported quarterly results after market close Wednesday. Investors are trying to gauge the pace of spending on AI and the returns companies are getting for this investment. While Google parent Alphabet shares popped about 9% on the back of strong results, shares of Meta and Microsoft tumbled about 9% and nearly 2%, respectively. Reactions to the results weighed on the broader market. Meta recorded its highest revenue growth since the first quarter of 2024, but the social media company said that President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act led it to incur a one-time charge of $15.93 billion. Meta expects the law will weigh on U.S. federal cash tax payments for the rest of this year and future years. Microsoft shares moved lower after the company said its investment in OpenAI reduced its earnings by $3.1 billion in the quarter. That revelation sparked worries about ongoing AI spending. Thursday’s losses were mitigated, however, after Trump agreed to cut fentanyl tariffs on China to 10%, while Beijing delayed the latest curb on rare earth exports by a year. “Rare earth issue has been settled,” Trump said. U.S.-listed rare earth miners rose broadly on the news, with USA Rare Earth gaining 5% and MP Materials advancing 3%. The U.S. tariff reduction brings the overall levy on Chinese imports to 47% from 57%. As part of the deal, Beijing will “work very hard to stop fentanyl” and buy U.S.-grown soybeans along with other agricultural goods. Wall Street is coming off a mixed day. The Dow rolled over — ending the day down about 0.2%, or about 74 points — after it briefly touched a record high earlier. The S&P 500 ended the day flat, while the Nasdaq closed up nearly 0.6%. Those moves came after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested the central bank may not cut interest rates again at its December meeting, which investors had been betting on. “A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion. Far from it,” he said. The Fed on Wednesday lowered its benchmark overnight borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point to end its two-day policy meeting, putting it in a range of between 3.75% to 4%. “The interest rate cut was the easy part as markets were giving the Fed breathing room,” said Chris Maxey, chief market strategist at Wealthspire Advisors. “For now, there is appropriate balance between monetary policy and the labor/inflation picture. Powell spooked markets with comments on the lack of conviction on a December rate cut and that’s where we may start to see the slow to respond narrative begin.” CFRA chief investment strategist Sam Stovall said that the Fed “might be forced to cut more than they indicated wanting to” if tech earnings prove that AI-related productivity is ramping up at a faster pace than anticipated. October has historically been the most volatile month of the year, he noted, adding that any upcoming price uncertainty could ultimately provide traders with an attractive buying opportunity. U.S. Treasury yields inched higher on Thursday as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate cuts and uncertainty regarding future monetary policy. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was up more than 3 basis points to 4.095%. The 2-year Treasury note yield was also up more than 2 basis points at 3.608%. Meanwhile, the 30-year bond yield added more than 5 basis points to 4.651%. Chinese and Hong Kong markets fell Thursday as investors assessed the first in-person meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping since Trump began his second term. Mainland China’s CSI 300 fell 0.8% to end at 4,709.9, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.24% to 26,282.69, reversing earlier gains, after the meeting concluded. The Kospi added 0.14%, with gains seen in auto and shipbuilding stocks, to close at a fresh record of 4,086.89, while the small-cap Kosdaq fell 1.19% to 890.86. Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended just above the flatline at 51,325.61, while the Topix rose 0.69% to finish at 3,300.79. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.46% to end at 8,885.5 and marking its third straight day of losses. Oil prices eased on Thursday as investors assessed a potential truce in a trade spat between the United States and China, as President Donald Trump lowered tariffs on China after a meeting with President Xi Jinping in South Korea. Brent crude futures fell 53 cents or 0.82% to $64.39 a barrel by 0908 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped by 46 cents or 0.76% to $60.02. Gold prices rose on Thursday, supported by a pullback in the dollar and an interest rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve, although signs of progress in U.S.-China trade talks kept gains in check. Spot gold was up 1.8% at $3,998.10 per ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery gained 0.3% to $4,009.70 per ounce. The dollar index fell after hitting a two-week high against its rivals in the previous session, making gold less expensive for other currency holders.