U.S. equity futures were muted on Wednesday as investors weighed broad market optimism tied to artificial intelligence against renewed flare-ups in the Middle East and a weaker global growth outlook from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
At 03:31 ET (07:31 GMT), futures on the Dow were down 109 points, or about 0.2%, S&P 500 futures had eased by four points, or roughly 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed. Those moves followed another session in which major benchmarks extended their string of record closing levels.
The S&P 500 recorded an all-time closing high for the ninth successive session, its longest such run since May 2025. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also notched a fresh record, climbing 0.4% on the day, while the Nasdaq Composite ticked up marginally. All three indexes have now registered all-time high closing levels for five straight sessions - a streak not seen since 2017.
Semiconductor names continued to provide much of the lift for equities. An index tracking chipmakers climbed 5.9% during the recent run, and the PHLX Semiconductor Index has surged more than 90% since its trough in March 2026. That advance reflects investor expectations of heavy investment in the infrastructure required to run advanced artificial intelligence models. Marvell Technology stood out among the session's winners after a prominent industry executive suggested the company could be on a path to becoming the "next trillion-dollar company."
Market participants will be watching economic data scheduled later in the day, including an index tracking activity in the services sector and a report on private-sector payrolls for May.
Geopolitical developments between the United States and Iran added a fresh layer of uncertainty to markets. U.S. military authorities reported that recent Iranian air attacks on Kuwait, Bahrain and other targets had either been repulsed or failed to achieve their aims. At the same time, Iranian state media indicated that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had carried out a strike against the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain in apparent retaliation for a U.S. strike on a communications tower south of the island of Qeshm.
Those exchanges have dimmed hopes that negotiators might bring the more-than-three-month conflict to a swift conclusion, even as President Donald Trump emphasized that talks between Washington and Tehran remain ongoing. The persistence of hostilities has raised concerns about the wider economic fallout if the war continues to affect energy flows and shipping lanes.
The OECD emphasized those risks in its updated outlook, cutting its projection for world economic growth and warning that a prolonged conflict could worsen the global backdrop. Chief Economist Stefano Scarpetta cautioned that, under a worse-case scenario, shipping disruptions could persist well into next year and might push some economies close to - or even into - recession.
Energy markets reacted to the heightened geopolitical risk. Brent crude futures rose, trading 2.0% higher at $97.93 a barrel in the latest moves. Although optimism about a possible U.S.-Iran settlement has at times pushed prices below recent peaks above $100 a barrel, Brent remains elevated compared with pre-conflict levels.
The OECD flagged inflation as a focal point of concern tied to the conflict, estimating that in its worse case global price levels could be 0.4 percentage points higher in 2026 and 1.3 percentage points higher in 2027. Much of that pressure is linked to the months-long effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway off Iran's southern coast that previously handled about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the outbreak of fighting in late February.
With negotiations between Washington and Tehran appearing to stall, markets are confronting the possibility that tanker traffic through the strait could remain constrained. That would tend to push oil prices upward, add to inflationary pressures and, in turn, influence central banks' decisions on interest rates.
On the trade policy front, the U.S. administration put forward broad new duties aimed at goods it says were produced with forced labor. Officials proposed additional tariffs of at least 10% on imports from 60 economies after investigations under Section 301 of the Trade Act found those economies had not adequately prevented the entry of products made with forced labor, a situation the administration said unfairly harmed American businesses and workers.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative concluded that the trading partners' policies on forced-labor imports were "unreasonable" and imposed a burden on U.S. commerce. Under the proposal, countries that have already adopted outright bans on such imports, those that have committed to do so under trade agreements, and those with partial restrictions would face an extra duty of 10% on affected goods. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer characterized the continued importation of goods made with forced labor by major trading partners as "unacceptable."
In capital markets news, SpaceX is planning what would be one of the largest initial public offerings ever assembled. People familiar with the matter said the Elon Musk-led aerospace and satellite company intends to raise $75 billion by selling about 555.6 million new shares at $135 apiece. The offering is being structured to value the company at roughly $1.75 trillion and would consist entirely of new shares.
The company is slated to begin a roadshow for the offering this Thursday, and some reports indicated that the final terms might be set as soon as the following afternoon. The listing would kick off a wave of large public debuts this year, with artificial intelligence-focused companies also planning to go public in the months ahead.
The combination of factors outlined here - stretched equity valuations driven by AI enthusiasm, renewed conflict in the Middle East, the OECD's trimmed growth outlook and proposed trade duties - creates a mixed signal set for investors. Chipmakers and technology infrastructure providers have been the primary beneficiaries of recent market moves, while energy and shipping sectors are most immediately sensitive to developments in the Strait of Hormuz and wider hostilities. Meanwhile, exporters and import-dependent manufacturers will be monitoring the proposed forced-labor tariffs for potential cost and supply-chain implications.