U.S. stock futures were little changed to moderately higher on Wednesday as investors assessed further military developments involving the United States and Iran, movements in oil and bond markets, developments in artificial intelligence and renewed trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada.
At 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT), S&P 500 futures were up 6 points, or 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 57 points, or 0.2%. Dow futures were broadly unchanged.
Wall Street equities declined on Tuesday following exchanges of attacks between the U.S. and Iran and strikes against Saudi Arabia by Houthi forces in Yemen.
Technology stocks were also affected by market reaction to OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra model, with software and services companies declining while some AI infrastructure-related companies, including chipmakers and data centre-linked industrial groups, received investor interest.
U.S. government bonds have also come under selling pressure. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was trading just below 5%, close to its highest level in almost two decades.
The U.S. Treasury Department is scheduled to begin a plan to at least double the size of longer-duration debt buybacks to $4 billion per operation on Wednesday.
Vital Knowledge analysts said the repurchases could exceed the initial guidance and be “perhaps as large as $10 billion.”
Iran reports strikes on US base and vessels
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it carried out strikes against a military base in Jordan used by U.S. forces and targeted 10 vessels on Wednesday.
Iran said the strikes caused significant damage. Jordanian officials, however, said 18 of 20 Iranian missiles were intercepted and that the remaining two landed in unpopulated areas.
The IRGC also said it targeted two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers attempting to travel through what it described as a “prohibited and unsafe” section of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Strait has been effectively closed to commercial shipping during the conflict, according to the supplied report.
The latest developments followed U.S. strikes that destroyed five Iranian oil tankers.
During a visit to Colombia, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated that the exchanges could continue, saying Iran will “lose tankers” when it tries to “hit U.S. naval ships.”
Brent briefly reaches $100 a barrel
Brent crude futures briefly touched $100 a barrel before trading at $99.91 by 03:16 ET, up 2.0%.
Vital Knowledge analysts said the impact of renewed military activity had been partly offset by U.S. efforts to move non-Iranian oil through the Strait of Hormuz and expectations of a possible shipping arrangement involving Iran and Oman.
Higher energy prices are also being assessed ahead of several central bank meetings. The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates at its Thursday meeting as policymakers consider inflation pressures associated with energy prices.
Markets were also pricing in approximately a 60% probability of a Federal Reserve interest rate increase at its meeting next week.
US announces restrictions on Canadian imports
U.S. President Donald Trump signed orders on Tuesday prohibiting imports of several categories of Canadian products, including alcoholic beverages, motorcycles and dairy products.
The restrictions are scheduled to take effect on September 29 and follow retaliatory Canadian tariffs on U.S. goods that took effect after midnight on Tuesday.
Canada’s measures followed the U.S. introduction last month of 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian goods.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has indicated that Canada should consider expanding its trade relationships beyond the United States amid the dispute.
Yen remains near seven-month high
The Japanese yen remained close to its strongest level since February on Wednesday.
USD/JPY traded around 153.18 after the yen reached 152.89 on Tuesday. The Japanese currency has gained approximately 4% during September.
The move came as markets assessed expectations for further Bank of Japan monetary tightening, potential repatriation of overseas investments by Japanese investors and U.S. pressure for a stronger yen.
The U.S. dollar index was trading near its lowest level in almost two weeks ahead of Friday’s U.S. inflation data and next week’s Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy meetings.