-- Wall Street futures pointed moderately lower pre-bell Thursday, as traders weighed rising oil prices and sought clarity on Persian Gulf war outlooks.
The Strait of Hormuz apparently remained closed to the vast majority of oil tanker traffic early Thursday.
In the futures, the S&P 500 fell 0.4%, the Nasdaq declined 0.4% and the Dow Jones was off 0.4%.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded higher at $99.35, up 5.2% in morning trades.
Investors also await the personal consumption expenditures-core (PCE-core) price index for February, slated for release in Washington at 8:30 am ET. The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation metric may provide clues to price pressures, but before the Middle East turmoils of March.
Asian exchanges traded mostly lower overnight, while European bourses tracked moderately south midday on the continent.
On the economic calendar, in addition to the PCE-core report, is the revised Q4 GDP bulletin, the weekly jobless claims bulletin, the February personal income and outlays report, and the Q4 corporate profit release, all at 8:30 am ET.
In premarket action, Bitcoin traded at $71,431 and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.28%. Spot gold commanded $4,740 an ounce.