U.S. stock index futures slipped on Wednesday evening as oil prices extended sharp gains, with fresh attacks on shipping near the Strait of Hormuz and the potential for further supply disruptions in global energy markets.
S&P 500 Futures fell 0.9% to 6,721.75 points, while Nasdaq 100 Futures also declined 0.9% to 24,760.75 points by 20:34 ET (00:34 GMT). Dow Jones Futures dropped 1% 46,964.0 points.
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In the regular trading session, Wall Street closed largely lower on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6%, while the S&P 500 closed 0.1% lower. The NASDAQ Composite managed a marginal gain of 0.1%.
Oil prices surge again amid fresh supply disruptions Oil prices surged more than 7% during Asian trading on Thursday after media reports said two international oil tankers were attacked in the northern Persian Gulf near Iraq and Kuwait.
The incidents followed a series of recent attacks on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, intensifying concerns over supply disruptions from one of the world’s most critical oil transit routes.
The renewed escalation pushed crude prices higher even after the International Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million barrels of emergency oil reserves to stabilize global supply.
U.S. President Donald Trump also said on Wednesday that the United States would release about 172 million barrels of crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an attempt to cool prices.
Despite these measures, officials in Iran warned that the world should prepare for crude prices as high as $200 per barrel if the conflict and shipping disruptions intensify.
CPI holds steady; PCE inflation awaited Investors were also digesting the latest U.S. inflation data. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3% in February from the previous month, with annual inflation holding at about 2.4%, broadly in line with economists’ expectations.
While the data suggested inflation pressures remained relatively stable, traders remained cautious given the potential for higher energy prices to feed into future inflation readings.
Markets now await weekly initial jobless claims due on Thursday and the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, scheduled for release on Friday.
The data could offer further clues on the health of the U.S. labor market and the path of monetary policy.
