U.S. stock futures hold steady before CPI; Oracle climbs on earnings

U.S. stock index futures were little changed Thursday evening as investors awaited key consumer inflation figures, while Oracle shares gained following robust earnings driven by artificial intelligence.

By 19:17 ET (23:17 GMT), S&P 500 Futures held at 7,600.75 points, Nasdaq 100 Futures slipped 0.09% to 29,108.25 points, and Dow Jones Futures were steady at 52,105.0 points.

The steadiness followed a downbeat Wall Street session, where a hotter producer inflation reading deepened worries about rising inflation and interest rates. Ongoing hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, which supported oil prices, also left markets uneasy.

Oracle gains after quarterly beat and raised guidance

Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) climbed 4.3% in after-hours trading after the software and cloud company reported quarterly earnings above expectations and increased its annual guidance.

The company also reported lower-than-expected cash burn for the quarter, raising some hopes that its sizable AI investments were beginning to generate returns without straining its balance sheet.

Oracle secured more than $30 billion in additional AI cloud contracts during the quarter, lifting its revenue backlog to $664 billion, above analyst estimates.

Oracle raised its fiscal 2027 adjusted earnings forecast by five cents to $8.10 per share, while keeping its capital spending target at $90 billion to $95 billion.

The strong results helped ease investor worries about stretched AI-related spending and questionable returns on Oracle's investments. Those concerns had pushed the stock down more than 20% so far in 2026.

Among other notable after-hours movers, Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) dropped 2% after the software giant delivered solid quarterly earnings but issued somewhat disappointing guidance.

CPI report awaited for further rate signals

Attention is now firmly on August consumer price index inflation data, scheduled for Friday, for additional signals on the direction of interest rates.

Headline CPI is forecast to hold steady at 3.4%, while core CPI is expected to have dipped slightly to 2.4%.

Still, markets stayed alert for any indications of persistent inflation, particularly after a hot August producer price index reading released Thursday.

The reading prompted traders to increase wagers that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week. Markets are pricing a 66.7% chance of a 25 basis point hike, up from 60.4% yesterday, according to CME Fedwatch.

U.S. Treasury yields climbed Thursday, largely shrugging off further attempts by Washington to lower them and adding to pressure on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 declined 0.58%, the NASDAQ Composite dropped 0.65%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%.