U.S. futures and European stocks fell ​on Thursday as investors zeroed ⁠in on company earnings while tensions between the United States and Iran kept markets on edge and supported oil ‌prices and gold.

Europe's STOXX 600 index fell 0.7% as shares in planemaker Airbus and miner Rio Tinto dropped after their earnings reports underwhelmed the market.

The ​index hit a record the previous day as a rally in defence and banking shares helped investors shake off worries about artificial intelligence disrupting companies.

Futures ​for the ​U.S. S&P 500 and tech-focused Nasdaq fell 0.34% and 0.44% respectively as the volatility driven by worries about disruption from A.I. appeared to continue.

Wall Street rallied on Wednesday, driven by Nvidia saying it signed a multi-year deal to sell ⁠Meta Platforms millions of artificial intelligence chips.

Yet Nvidia, Meta and other tech firms such as Apple were lower in pre-market trading.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said geopolitics was a factor.

"Rising U.S.-Iran tensions are adding a layer of uncertainty, and we're already seeing that play out in higher oil prices, which are dampening sentiment more broadly."

U.S. mega-cap tech stocks, as well as sectors like ​software and trucking, have had ‌a shaky month ⁠as traders have tried ⁠to work out which companies are most at risk from A.I.

Yet a resilient global economy and rotation into other sectors have helped indices trade ​at or near record highs around the world.

Chris Turner, global head of markets at lender ‌ING, said investors could take some comfort from Wednesday's Federal Reserve meeting minutes, which ⁠suggested some policymakers were open to rate hikes if inflation remains high.

"The Fed's talking about a resilient U.S. economy which is good for global growth," he said. "Equities have been doing quite well in Asia."

GEOPOLITICS AND FED IN FOCUS

Oil prices extended gains after surging in the previous session, as investors priced in potential supply disruptions on concerns of a conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

U.S. outlets including the New York Times and CNN reported the build-up of American forces around Iran, although they stressed President Donald Trump had not decided on a course of action.

Brent crude oil futures were up 1.4% at $71.22 a barrel - around the highest since late January - after jumping 4.4% in the previous session. U.S. crude rose 1.2% to $66.09.

"The balance of risks now tilts ‌to a U.S. strike after market close Friday," said Michael Every, senior global strategist at ⁠Rabobank, adding that any attack is likely to last weeks rather than "being over by ​the Monday open".

Gold, traditionally a safe-haven asset, rose 0.3% to $4,992 an ounce.

The dollar held on to its gains after rallying in the wake of better-than-expected U.S. economic data and the Fed minutes.

The dollar index, which tracks the currency against six major peers, was last flat ​at 97.71 after climbing ‌0.59% on Wednesday.

MSCI's index of Asian-Pacific stocks excluding Japan rose 0.32% overnight, although trading was thinned ⁠by Lunar New Year holidays in some markets.

(Reporting by ​Harry Robertson in London and Rae Wee in Singapore; Editing by Kim Coghill, Shri Navaratnam and David Holmes)