US equity futures pared earlier gains after fresh evidence of persistent inflation and renewed escalatory rhetoric toward Iran from President Trump. Futures on the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow were up between 0.4% and 0.7%.
The President said the US will resume strikes against Iran tonight and, “at some point,” seize the country’s key energy hub at Kharg Island, reversing his more conciliatory comments from yesterday. At the same time, a new producer price index (PPI) reading showed faster price increases in May, reinforcing the inflationary impact of the war and supporting market expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.
Financial stocks traded lower as yields climbed, with Goldman Sachs and Visa both down in premarket trading. In contrast, AI infrastructure names extended their rally, as tomorrow’s SpaceX IPO highlights how hyperscalers are ramping up spending on computing capacity. Nvidia added 1%. Oracle, however, slumped 9% after announcing it would take on additional debt to fund new data centers despite reporting flat sales.
