MW Oil prices spike, U.S. stock futures fall as Israel says it's striking Iran
By Mike Murphy
Oil futures shot higher and U.S. stock-market futures sank Thursday evening on reports that Israel was attacking sites in Iran, raising new fears of an all-out conflict in the Middle East.
Explosions were reportedly heard in Tehran. "In the wake of the state of Israel's preventive attack against Iran, missile and drone attacks against Israel and its civilian population are expected immediately," Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. There were few other immediate details. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery (CLN25) (CL.1) and the global benchmark Brent crude for August delivery (BRNQ25) (BRN00) soared more than 5%.
The news sent U.S. stock-market futures falling, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM00) down around 500 points, or 1.2%, while S&P 500 futures (ES00) dropped 1.3% and Nasdaq-100 futures (NQ00) fell tumbled 1.5%.
Earlier Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors censured Iran for the first time in 20 years for its refusal to work with its nuclear inspectors. The U.S. had been negotiating with Iran in efforts to reach a new nuclear agreement, but those talks had stalled.
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said earlier in the day that "the international community must respond decisively to Iran's non-compliance and take measures to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons."
This is a developing report and will be updated.
-Mike Murphy
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June 12, 2025 20:51 ET (00:51 GMT)
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