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Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both edged down about 0.1%.
The U.S. started a “series of powerful strikes” against Iran on Tuesday evening, retaliating for attacks against three commercial vessels traveling in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said. Earlier, the Treasury Department revoked a license that permitted Iran to sell its oil around the world in light of the attacks in the Hormuz Strait. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were last up more than 2% to top $72 a barrel.
Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mostly lower on Wednesday.
Futures for Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 in Chicago were trading at 67,725, against the index’s last close of 68,256.96. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 also looked set to decline, with futures last at 8,743, compared with the index’s close of 8,803.90. Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 23,499, compared with its last close of 23,496.89.
In the U.S. in Tuesday’s regular session, investors rotated out of artificial intelligence-linked stocks while rising oil prices weighed on sentiment. The 30-stock Dow fell more than 100 points after earlier touching a fresh intraday record. The S&P 500 slipped 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.2% as chipmakers led the declines.
Investors’ attention now turns to the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s June meeting, due at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday. The release is expected to provide more insight into Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh’s first policy meeting, where officials left interest rates unchanged while signaling that additional rate hikes could be warranted if inflation pressures persist.
“The FOMC minutes will be [a] wildcard simply because Warsh was so opaque at the most recent press conference,” Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note. “Normally, [Jerome] Powell provided fairly comprehensive accounting of the meeting discussion, but that didn’t happen with Warsh, so the minutes, which are likely to be hawkish in tone, could contain some surprises.”
— CNBC’s Garrett Downs contributed reporting.
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