U.S. equity futures fall in pre-market trading as oil, gold retreat from highs

U.S. equities fell in pre-market trading after the U.S. and Israel entered into conflict with Iran over the weekend.

The Invesco QQQ exchange-traded fund (ETF), which tracks the Nasdaq 100 index, declined 1.5%, though early losses have started to moderate, suggesting that initial concerns may have been somewhat overstated.

A Saudi Arabia oil refinery was hit by Iran’s response, pushing WTI crude oil as high as $75 per barrel. It was recently trading below $72, though remains 8% higher over the past 24 hours.

Gold rallied more than 2% in the past day to $5,400 per ounce, putting it within reach of its all-time high near $5,600 as investors sought traditional haven assets. It also drew back following an initial surge.

Bitcoin BTC$66,195.42 has held up, trading above $66,000 and gaining about 1% over the past 24 hours. This marks a modest divergence from its recent correlation with software stocks, as the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) is down around 1%.

Among crypto-related equities, Strategy (MSTR), the largest publicly traded corporate holder of bitcoin, is little changed. Crypto-exchange Bullish (BLSH), CoinDesk’s parent company, is down 4%, while AI-focused miners Cipher Digital (CIFR) and IREN (IREN) are both lower by about 3%. Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) is down 2%.

The conflict pushed the U.S. dollar index (DXY) higher to 98.2. At the same time, both the S&P 500 volatility index (VIX), and the U.S. bond market volatility index (MOVE), are up by more than 10%, reflecting elevated market uncertainty.