European Shares Poised to Open Lower Ahead of Big Tech Earnings, Fed Rate Decision

European stocks are set to open lower Wednesday as investors await quarterly results from Alphabet and Microsoft and the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision later today, followed by the ECB and Bank of Japan this week. U.S. stock futures were mixed after an AI-driven rally lifted Wall Street to a higher close overnight. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.2 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent, while the Dow ended little changed after Boeing cut its delivery target. Meta Platforms' upsized $25 billion share sale closed five times oversubscribed, Broadcom announced a $63 billion AI hardware deal, and Oracle expanded its OpenAI and Nvidia partnerships. Earlier, South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix reported a more than sevenfold surge in quarterly operating profit to a record high, beating expectations on robust AI-driven memory-chip demand. The Fed is expected to hold rates steady despite hotter-than-expected September inflation data. Gold fell 0.6 percent to $4,036 an ounce; Brent crude rose 1.4 percent toward $116 a barrel. The STOXX 600 gained 0.5 percent Tuesday.