Brent crude briefly reached $100 a barrel on Wednesday as investors monitored further military exchanges involving the United States and Iran, while U.S. equity futures showed limited movement ahead of upcoming inflation data and central bank meetings.
At 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT), S&P 500 futures were 6 points higher, equivalent to 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures advanced 57 points, or 0.2%. Dow futures were little changed.
The moves followed a lower close for U.S. equities on Tuesday amid attacks involving the U.S. and Iran and strikes on Saudi Arabia by Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen.
Artificial intelligence developments also influenced trading. Market reaction to OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra model weighed on software and services shares, while some semiconductor and data centre-related companies attracted buying interest.
Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield remained just below 5%, close to its highest level in almost 20 years.
The U.S. Treasury is due to implement an increase in longer-duration debt buybacks on Wednesday, with the size of purchases set to at least double to $4 billion per operation.
Vital Knowledge analysts said the eventual repurchase amounts could exceed that level and be “perhaps as large as $10 billion.”
Military activity continues around the Gulf
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it attacked a military base in Jordan used by U.S. forces and targeted 10 vessels on Wednesday.
Iran said the strikes caused heavy damage, while Jordanian officials provided a different account. They said 18 of 20 Iranian missiles were intercepted, with two landing in unpopulated areas.
The IRGC separately said two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers had been targeted while attempting to pass through a section of the Strait of Hormuz that it described as “prohibited and unsafe.”
According to the supplied report, commercial shipping through the Strait has effectively remained closed during the conflict.
The attacks followed U.S. strikes that destroyed five Iranian oil tankers.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking during a visit to Colombia, indicated that further exchanges could occur, saying Iran will “lose tankers” when it tries to “hit U.S. naval ships.”
Oil markets monitor Hormuz developments
Brent crude futures briefly traded at $100 a barrel before easing slightly to $99.91 at 03:16 ET, still up 2.0% on the session.
Vital Knowledge analysts said continued U.S. efforts to transport non-Iranian crude through the Strait of Hormuz and expectations surrounding a possible shipping arrangement between Iran and Oman had moderated some of the upward pressure on prices.
Oil prices are also being watched for their potential implications for inflation ahead of upcoming central bank decisions.
The European Central Bank is expected to increase borrowing costs at its Thursday meeting as policymakers assess energy-related inflation pressures.
Market pricing also indicated an approximately 60% probability that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its meeting next week.
US-Canada trade measures take effect this month
Trade policy was another focus after U.S. President Donald Trump signed orders restricting imports of certain Canadian goods.
The measures cover products including alcoholic beverages, motorcycles and dairy products and are scheduled to take effect on September 29.
The U.S. action followed retaliatory Canadian tariffs on American products that took effect on Tuesday. Those measures followed the introduction by Washington last month of 50% tariffs covering $20 billion of Canadian goods.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said Canada should consider broadening its trade relationships beyond the United States as the dispute continues.
Yen trades close to strongest level since February
In foreign exchange markets, the Japanese yen remained near its strongest level in seven months.
USD/JPY was trading around 153.18 after reaching 152.89 on Tuesday. The yen has appreciated by approximately 4% during September.
Markets have been assessing expectations for additional monetary tightening from the Bank of Japan, the possibility of Japanese investors bringing overseas funds back into the country and U.S. pressure for a stronger Japanese currency.
The U.S. dollar index remained close to a nearly two-week low as investors awaited Friday’s U.S. inflation report and next week’s Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan meetings.
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