Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq futures slide amid inflation worries as Iran war sends oil surging

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US stocks were poised to build on losses on Thursday as oil prices spiked amid strikes on key Middle East energy hubs, stoking already intense inflation concerns on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) fell 0.4%, coming off a bruising session that dragged the blue-chip benchmark to its lowest close this year. Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) and Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) declined 0.4% and 0.5%, respectively.

Brent (BZ=F) crude futures surged as much as 10% to as high as $119 a barrel after Iran and Israel exchanged attacks on highly important oil and gas facilities. The escalation in hostilities stoked fears of a more severe fallout from the conflict than foreseen. Gains for US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude (CL=F) lagged, rising over 2% to above $97.

Markets were already contending with rising inflation forecasts from the Federal Reserve, which dampened expectations for interest-rate cuts. While the Fed signaled one cut could still be on the table this year, bets are policymakers will stand pat — especially after hawkish comments from Chair Jerome Powell.

Looking ahead, focus turns to fresh economic data, including weekly jobless claims and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index, due later Thursday.

On the corporate front, shares of Micron (MU) dropped in premarket as the chipmaker’s AI spending plans overshadowed strong earnings. Meanwhile, Alibaba (BABA) stock slid after a 67% plunge in quarterly profit underscored the need for a payoff from its AI investments.

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In another big move in the robotaxi space, Uber (UBER) says it will invest as much as $1.25 billion in Rivian (RIVN) in exchange for up to 50,000 fully autonomous vehicles.

Shares of Rivian jumped almost 10% before the bell after the news, while Uber’s stock was little changed.

Yahoo Finance’s Pras Subramanian reports:

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European natural gas futures exploded in early Monday trading, surging by more than 17% after Israel struck the South Pars gas field and QatarEnergy reported “extensive damage” from Iranian strikes at its Ras Laffan liquified natural gas (LNG) export complex, the world’s largest.

Over the past 24 hours, Middle Eastern energy infrastructure has come increasingly under fire, marking a new height of escalation in the war in Iran, starting on Wednesday with strikes by Israel on Iran’s South Pars gas field — the Iranian section of the largest natural gas reserve in the world, which the regime shares with Qatar.

After the South Pars strikes, Iran published a target list of energy infrastructure in the region and ordered evacuations from the sites. Strikes by Iran in the hours since have threatened a refinery in Saudi Arabia, taken two gas facilities in the UAE offline, and struck two refineries in Kuwait.

Earlier in the conflict, initial damage to QatarEnergy’s Las Raffan industrial city pushed Qatar to declare force majeure on shipments from the export complex. The new round of strikes has now made the damage much more extensive.

While Europe gets the majority of its gas supply through pipeline gas from Europe and North Africa, LNG supplies from the Middle East — and especially Qatar — act as flexible cargo that balances the system. Without those deliveries, Europe loses the barrels cushioning its market.
Investors were closely watching Jerome Powell’s post-policy meeting press conference for clues about how the war in Iran might change the Federal Reserve’s calculus for future interest-rate cuts.

Here’s a look at the takeaway from how far the Fed chair was willing to go in his comments

Yahoo Finance’s Jake Conley writes:

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Shares in the miner Newmont (NEM) fell 7% before the bell on Thursday as gold (GC=F), silver (SI=F) and copper (HG=F) futures edged lower.

Five Below (FIVE) stock rose 6% during premarket hours today after reporting higher quarterly profit and sales, citing an increase in customer footfall due to the retailer’s low-priced offerings.

Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) stock rose 6% before the bell on Thursday after activist investor Elliott said it had built a significant stake in the maker of Invisalign teeth-straightening.
Alibaba (BABA) stock slumped 5% during premarket hours on Thursday as the e-commerce giant’s earnings fell while revenue barely grew. Alibaba reported a 2% rise in sales to $41.3 billion for the three months ended December. Net income fell 67%, its worst result since 2024, caused by the company’s heavy spending on promotions.

Bloomberg News reports:

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Micron (MU) stock fell 5% before the bell on Thursday following the chipmaker’s earnings report. The company’s plan to increase capital expenditure left investors feeling nervous. The company’s AI-fueled earnings for the quarter beat analysts’ estimates.

Reuters reports:

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Oil prices surged after Iran and Israel traded strikes on some of the Middle East’s most important energy facilities, spurring fears of a more severe impact from the almost three-week-old conflict.

Bloomberg reports:

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Reuters reports:

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Bloomberg reports:

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