By ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer
BANGKOK (AP) — U.S. futures were mixed Thursday ahead of key economic data and continued uncertainty about the conflict in Iran that is hanging over markets despite what the Trump administration has described as a potential deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
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Futures rose 0.09% for the S&P 500 and 0.13% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Nasdaq futures bucked the trend and fell 0.55%.
SpaceX shares rose 3%. More than 911 million SpaceX shares held by early investors and employees become eligible for sale on Thursday as a lockup period for the stock expires. That is more than double the shares that were initially offered to the public for sale during the initial public offering for Elon Musk’s company. SpaceX initially soared above the share’s $150 asking price, making Musk the world’s first trillionaire. They have since tumbled about 25%, and were trading just above $112 before the opening bell.
Moderna shares rose nearly 4%. The company received regulatory approval for the first mRNA influenza vaccine.
The price of Brent crude, the international standard, edged up 1% to $80.55 a barrel. Oil prices have been swinging for months and were as high as $102 per barrel at one point during the conflict, jolting already stubbornly high inflation. Higher oil prices pushed gasoline prices upward, increasing the the cost of travel, shipping, packaging and other goods and services.
U.S. benchmark crude oil ticked up about 1% to $76.02 a barrel.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is coming soon. But there have been many stops and starts during the five-month-old conflict that has stifled the global supply of oil and rattled energy markets.
Markets will get an update Friday on U.S. jobs with the monthly employment report for July, and analysts say investors appear to be bracing for its potential impact.
Strong corporate profits and expectations for more growth ahead generally have been steering U.S. stocks higher. But Asian benchmarks have been hit by bouts of selling of computer chipmakers and other companies related to the boom in artificial intelligence.
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“Asia’s chip sell-off looks like a combination of profit-taking and risk reduction ahead of Friday’s nonfarm payroll report,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
The Kospi lost 4.6% to 6,296.38, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.9% to 65,683.26.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng declined 1.5% to 25,530.28, while the Shanghai Composite index climbed 0.6% to 3,900.35.
In European trading, Germany’s DAX picked up 0.18% while the CAC 40 in Paris surged 0.58%. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.08%.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 slipped 0.2% from an all-time high and the Dow industrials rose 0.5%. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.8%.
Overall, the market has been rising as companies head into the closing stretch of their latest round of earnings reports with sharp overall gains. Three-quarters of the companies within the S&P 500 have reported results so far, and Wall Street expects profit growth of 50% when they are all finished.
Associated Press writer Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
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