Wall St futures slide as Middle East conflict stokes inflation worries
March 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Tuesday as investors assessed the fallout of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and the repercussions it could have on inflation and global trade.
Tehran vowed to close the Strait of Hormuz and said it would fire on any ship trying to pass, pushing up global crude prices and shipping rates. The strait handles about a fifth of the world's total oil consumption.
Industries exposed to crude prices such as airlines and travel were knocked back for a second day. Delta DAL.N and Royal Caribbean RCL.N fell about 3% each.
"Much will depend on the price of oil," said a group of strategists led by Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid. "Any sustained spike would undoubtedly trigger a more meaningful risk-off move."
Investors worried that higher oil prices could stoke inflation across the broader economy and further complicate policy decisions for central bank officials already contending with price increases driven by tariffs.
More: Oil prices rise, but stocks rebound amid Mideast fighting
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield US10YT=RR jumped to its highest level in more than a week and investors pushed back expectations for a 25-basis-point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve to September, according to LSEG-compiled data.
Markets will be looking out for fresh signals from the Fed, given recent divisions over the path of rates. John Williams, a voting member, Jeffrey Schmid, and Neel Kashkari are scheduled to speak later in the day.
A packed slate of U.S. data will land later this week, including January retail sales, ADP employment figures and the closely watched non-farm payrolls report.
At 04:28 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were down 707 points, or 1.45%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 106 points, or 1.54%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 511 points, or 2%.
Futures tracking the small-caps index RTYcv1 slid 2.3%, while Wall Street's fear gauge, the CBOE volatility index .VIX, spiked to a fresh three-month high of 25.56 points.
Oil and gas and defense stocks were among the few gainers. Occidental OXY.N rose 3% and Cheniere Energy LNG.N climbed 8%, while U.S.-listed shares of Scorpio Tankers STNG.N added 2.2%. Lockheed Martin LMT.N gained 1.4%, while RTX RTX.N added 1%.
AI bellwethers Nvidia NVDA.O and Microsoft MSFT.O were down too.
U.S. investors are also navigating uncertainties about the scope of disruption AI models could have on traditional businesses, alongside jitters in the private credit space.
MongoDB MDB.O shares plunged 27% after the database software company forecast quarterly profit below Street estimates.
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