Investing.com - U.S. futures were slightly lower on Tuesday as heightened geopolitical risk and fading hopes for an interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve weighed on sentiment.
Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman is due to hold a press conference later Tuesday to update the world on how quickly the kingdom can restore oil production after an attack left 5% of the world’s crude supply out of commission.
Saudi authorities have stopped short of following the U.S. in blaming Iran for the attack. Both have said they are ready to retaliate, although President Donald Trump said late Monday "we'd certainly like to avoid" war, but added: "I don't want war with anybody but we're prepared more than anybody."
Iran has denied its involvement in the attacks.
Nasdaq 100 futures fell 14 points or 0.2% by 6:40 AM ET (10:40 GMT), while Dow futures lost 47 points or 0.2% and S&P 500 futures were down 3 points or 0.1%.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was down 0.3% as the tech company’s appeal against an EU tax bill reached the bloc’s top court. Shopify (NYSE:SHOP) declined 4.4% after the company announced a secondary stock offering.
Elsewhere, energy stocks continued to see some strength, with Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) rising 0.3% and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) inching up 0.2%.
Anheuser Busch Inbev (NYSE:BUD) rose 1.1% after reports that it is relaunching plans for an initial public offering of its Asia-Pacific business. The company is now looking to raise up to $4.8 billion through the offering, although Reuters reported that a special "upsize" feature would allow it to raise the total IPO volume to as much as $6.6 billion.
Anheuser Busch Inbev (NYSE:BUD) rose 1.1% after reports that it is relaunching plans for an initial public offering of its Asia-Pacific business. The company is now looking to raise up to $4.8 billion through the offering, although Reuters reported that a special "upsize" feature would allow it to raise the total IPO volume to as much as $6.6 billion.
On the economic front, industrial production numbers come out at 9:15 AM ET, while the NAHB housing market index is released at 10:00 AM ET. Focus will also turn to the start of the Federal Reserve’s meeting, which starts on Tuesday, where the perceived chance of the central bank cutting rates is declining.
In commodities, crude oil futures fell 1.7% to $61.66 a barrel, off of yesterday’s high of $62.80. Gold futures were down 0.5% to $1,504.35 a troy ounce, while the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was flat at 98.185.