US stock futures pointed to another mixed Wall Street session on Thursday, as investors weighed fresh developments in the Middle East against signs that chip stocks could extend their recent rally.
Dow Jones futures were down 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.8%
This comes a day after the Dow fell 577 points or 1.1%, the S&P declined or 0.3% to 7,483, while the Nasdaq gained 0.2% to finish at 25,871. Asian and European markets traded mostly higher in the early hours, with London’s FTSE an exception as it was hit by a large fall for AstraZeneca on the back of a failed drug trial. Oil prices remained volatile, as more strikes and words were exchanged between the US and Iran.
WTI crude, which topped $75 a barrel on Wednesday, briefly dropped below $72 before recovering to around $74. The latest moves came as the US said it had struck another 90 Iranian targets, taking the total to 170 over the past 48 hours, while Iran launched retaliatory attacks on US military sites in Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. President Trump was reported as saying Iran had been in touch with the US and “want to make a deal”, although he questioned whether Tehran would honour any agreement.