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Investing.com - U.S. stock futures suggest a lackluster start to trading on Wall Street on Thursday, as investors eye recent U.S.-China trade talks and a bevy of fresh inflation data. President Donald Trump has suggested that he is open to possibly extending a 90-day delay to his punishing "reciprocal" tariffs beyond a deadline early next month. Elsewhere, markets are awaiting May producer price figures, while Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) raises its full-year revenue target, sending shares in the cloud-computing group spiking in extended hours trading.
1. Futures drop
U.S. stock futures pointed lower, with traders gauging a relatively benign consumer price reading and signs of détente in recent trade tensions between the United States and China.
By 03:37 ET (07:37 GMT), the Dow futures contract had slipped by 106 points, or 0.3%, S&P 500 futures had fallen by 13 points, or 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had declined by 48 points, or 0.2%.
The benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both retreated on Wednesday, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged. Investors seemed to greet a slower-than-anticipated measure of consumer price growth in May in muted fashion, as worries persisted over the potential impact of Trump’s tariff agenda.
Markets seemed to also be cautiously assessing a framework agreement between Washington and Beijing to resume their fragile trade truce. Trump called the deal "great," although analysts flagged that the announcement was short of many concrete details and possibly left the door open for a future flare-up in the spat between the world’s two largest economies.
Sentiment was dented as well after media reports suggested that the U.S. is preparing for a partial evacuation of its embassy in Iran. An official from Tehran previously said that strikes on U.S. bases in the region would be carried out if ongoing nuclear talks collapse and a conflict emerges with the U.S.
2. Trump on trade talks
Meanwhile, Trump has hinted at a willingness to possibly extend a delay to his elevated "reciprocal" levies on most countries, saying that negotiations on bespoke trade deals were ongoing with 15 countries.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump claimed that the White House was "rocking in terms of deals," adding that "quite a few countries [...] want to make a deal with us."
But he stressed that an extension to a postponement of his heightened duties beyond the current deadline in early July is likely not a "necessity."
Trump added that the U.S. plans to send out letters to dozens of nations in the coming weeks that will set out the terms of trade deals, flagging that these countries will then have to choose whether to "take it, or [...] leave it."
The president paused the implementation of his broadest tariffs in April, in a bid to give negotiators time to hammer out a series of agreements. However, with the 90-day halt set to end on July 8, the U.S. has just one trade deal agreed with Britain and 17 others are being discussed.
3. PPI ahead
The focus is now turning to a data point due out later today which tracks growth in U.S. producer prices, as markets remain wary of any indications that Trump’s tariffs could be re-fueling inflationary pressures.
Economists anticipated that the producer price index for final demand edged up by 0.2% month-over-month in May, after it fell by 0.5% in the prior month. In the twelve months to May, the measure is seen speeding up to 2.6% from 2.4%.
In April, wholesale services prices slipped by 0.7% -- the biggest fall since the government first began to monitor the numbers in December 2009. Prices for hotel and motel rooms decreased in particular, reflecting a retreat in tourist travel which analysts noted was potentially sparked by a backlash to Trump’s policies since returning to office.
Crucially, accommodations, airline fares, and portfolio management fees make up some of the components that factor into an inflation gauge preferred by Federal Reserve interest-rate setters.
On Wednesday, a separate Labor Department data set showed that consumer prices increased at a cooler-than-projected pace in May, thanks in large part to cheaper gasoline prices counterbalancing an uptick in rent costs.
4. Oracle earnings
Shares in Oracle surged in extended hours trading after the cloud-computing group lifted its annual revenue growth target and highlighted solid demand from clients aiming to harness artificial intelligence.
Oracle CEO Safra Catz told investors in a post-earnings call on Wednesday that total revenue in its 2026 fiscal year is expected to be at least $67 billion, implying yearly growth of roughly 16.7%.
The company had previously guided for an increase of 15%.
Catz noted that its annual total cloud growth rate, which includes "applications plus infrastructure," will also rise to over 40% from 24% in the 2025 fiscal year, bolstered mostly by solid returns from its Oracle Cloud Infrastructure solution business and clients’ need to support AI workloads.
Analysts at Vital Knowledge called the prospects for Oracle’s growth "amazing," but flagged that "meeting that demand is eating up a lot of cash" and contributing to an elevated projection for annual capital expenditures.
5. Oil dips
Oil prices slipped, handing back some of the previous session’s sharp gains as the U.S. authorised voluntary departures for military dependents in the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran.
At 03:42 ET, Brent futures dropped 1.3% to $68.89 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 1.2% to $67.33 a barrel.
Both contracts surged over 4% on Wednesday during a turbulent trading session, supported by the progress in U.S.-China trade talks, which has helped reduce demand concerns, with free-flowing trade expected to boost global economic activity and thus crude demand.
Wednesday’s spike reflects heightened geopolitical risk, as investors feared any conflict could disrupt shipping routes or oil infrastructure across the Gulf.