US pre-open: Futures mixed as Middle East tensions remain in focus

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the open on Thursday as market participants remained locked in on Middle East tensions. As of 1215 BST, Dow Jones futures were up 0.47%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.40% and 1.12% softer, respectively.

The Dow closed 620.72 points lower on Wednesday, more than reversing gains recorded in the previous session, snapping a nine-day winning streak amid a flare up in tensions between the US and Iran.

Oil prices traded lower early on Thursday, with West Texas Intermediate down 1.24% at $94.83 a barrel and Brent crude 1.47% softer at $96.37 a barrel, after pushing higher in the previous session as hostilities between the US and Iran intensified. Yesterday's moves came after Tehran struck Kuwait International Airport, following a US Central Command statement a day earlier that American forces had intercepted multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones and carried out what it described as "self‑defence" strikes on Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf.

In the corporate space, chipmaker Broadcom tumbled in after‑hours trading on Wednesday after it delivered a mixed set of quarterly numbers and issued an AI sales outlook that fell short of market hopes. Broadcom posted revenue of $22.19bn for the quarter, a touch ahead of the $22.13bn expected, while earnings per share came in at $2.44 against forecasts of $2.39. However, market participants had been looking for a stronger top‑line beat given the scale of recent AI‑related demand, leaving some investors underwhelmed by the modest outperformance.

Lululemon Athletica will report its latest earnings after the close.

On the macro front, May job cuts data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas will be published at 1230 BST, while weekly jobless claims figures and first-quarter non-farm productivity numbers will follow at 1330 BST.







Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com