U.S. futures are mostly lower and oil prices continued to climb with the violence in the Middle East ongoing.
Iran fired at Kuwait on Thursday in retaliation for U.S. bombardments earlier in the week. Fighting between the U.S. and Iran intensified after the U.S. hit Iranian rocket launchers Sunday on an island in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran was planning to use them to send mines into the waterway.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.1 per cent, and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were little changed. Nasdaq futures slipped 0.2 per cent.
The renewed fighting has sent U.S. crude prices sharply higher this week, up 11 per cent, a trend that continued Thursday. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8 per cent to $97.33 per barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude rose 2.1 per cent to $92.92 a barrel.
Rising oil prices have added to existing inflationary pressures and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury is up 0.94 per cent this week, although it fell to around 4.77 per cent early Thursday. The yield hovered around 4.81 per cent Wednesday, its highest level since 2023. The 2-year Treasury slipped Thursday to 4.36 per cent after reaching 4.41 per cent a day earlier, its highest mark in more than a year and a half.
On Friday, the crucial U.S. employment report for August is released.
In Europe, Germany’s DAX lost 0.1 per cent to 25,819.38, while the CAC 40 in Paris declined 0.3 per cent, to 8,257.47. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2 per cent to 10,775.13. Asian markets were mixed.
The Japanese yen strengthened sharply against the U.S. dollar, with the dollar trading at 156.07 yen Thursday, down from 158.71 yen late Wednesday. The dollar had surged to above 160 yen earlier in the week, raising expectations that regulators might intervene to prevent the yen from falling further.
The euro traded at $1.1612, up from $1.1588.
Chan Ho-him, The Associated Press
