US equity futures pared earlier losses, interrupting the previous session’s heavy selloff, as investors continued to weigh how Washington’s war against Iran might affect energy prices and force higher deficit-financed Treasury issuance. Futures on the three major stock indices were recently up as much as 0.3%.
Crude oil and refined product prices remained sharply elevated, though their rallies cooled from earlier in the week amid doubts that President Trump’s pledges of insurance coverage and military escorts for tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz would be enough to restart Persian Gulf oil exports at scale. The attendant inflation risk from energy shocks pressured most sectors, while bond yields climbed across the curve and the heavyweight technology sector extended last month’s losses. Banks and asset managers also came under strain amid fresh signs of vulnerability among large private-credit firms.
