Nasdaq Futures Decline Amid Middle East Conflict Concerns

The Nasdaq index, primarily composed of tech stocks, led the decline among U.S. blue-chip indices in pre-market trading. According to Jin10, Ipek Ozkardeskaya from Swissquote Bank noted that investors are weighing the risks of inflation shocks triggered by the Middle East conflict. Ozkardeskaya stated, "The continuous surge in oil prices could elevate inflation expectations and bond yields, exerting pressure on long-duration growth valuations by increasing discount rates." She emphasized the importance of this for companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet, whose price-to-earnings ratios are highly sensitive to future income and real yields. Nvidia fell 1.6% in pre-market trading, while Alphabet and Apple dropped 2.7% and 1.2%, respectively. Nasdaq futures declined by 1.5%.