President Trump addresses Iranian school bombing
President Trump said he “doesn’t have enough knowledge” about the Iranian school strike and said the incident is still under investigation.
March 11 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were subdued in choppy trade on Wednesday as investors assessed the outlook for oil prices and looked forward to a major inflation report as tensions in the Middle East continued to rise.
Energy prices soared as traders weighed reports that the International Energy Agency is considering releasing oil reserves to stabilize supplies as airstrikes intensify in the Middle East and shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz is likely to be halted for some time.
Still, President Donald Trump’s comments earlier this week provided some reassurance to markets that the war might not drag on for months. Oil prices have fallen to less than $90 a barrel from near $120 at the beginning of the week.
Later in the day, a report is expected to be released saying consumer prices likely rose in February as tariffs were applied to individuals, potentially adding to concerns about higher gas prices in coming months. The levy was deemed unconstitutional late last month.
Expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates by 25 basis points from July to September have faded on concerns that rising energy costs could fuel price pressures, data compiled by LSEG showed.
Signs of a softening job market are likely to further complicate the central bank’s monetary policy decisions.
“The big concern for the market is how much this supply shock will lead to higher inflation, slower growth, higher interest rates and lower profitability,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com.
As of 4:57 a.m. ET, the Dow E-mini YMcv1 was down 131 points, or 0.27%, and the S&P 500 E-mini EScv1 was down 9.75 points, or 0.14%. NASDAQ100E Mini NQcv1 fell 38.5 points (0.15%).
The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX, Wall Street’s fear gauge, rose 0.72 points to 25.65.
Meanwhile, Oracle predicted that the boom in AI data centers will drive its revenue above expectations through 2027, pushing its stock up 10% in pre-market trading.
Semiconductor stocks such as Nvidia Inc NVDA.O , Broadcom Inc AVGO.O and Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O rose slightly.
Travel stocks sensitive to energy prices were mixed Wednesday. American Airlines AAL.O rose 0.3%, while cruise liner Carnival CCL.N fell 0.6%.
Later in the day, Michelle Bowman, the Fed’s vice chair for oversight, is scheduled to make remarks, and the direction of policy will be scrutinized.
Investors were also monitoring developments in the private credit sector.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has written down the value of some loans held by private credit groups and ramped up lending to the sector, according to the report.
In particular, defense company Aerovironment AVAV.O fell 9.6% after the company said its adjusted profit for 2026 would be lower than expected.
Nike NKE.N rose 1.8% after Barclays upgraded the sportswear maker from “equal weight” to “overweight.”
(Reporting by Johan M. Cherian in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)
