Summary
U.S. equity futures opened lower as investors reassessed the fallout from fresh attacks near the Strait of Hormuz and the potential for sustained disruption to oil flows. Crude prices rose amid reports of a projectile striking a tanker close to the port of Fujairah and mounting logistical and insurance challenges for shipping operators. Gold edged up as markets await a cluster of central bank rate decisions over the coming days, including the Federal Reserve. In separate developments, the Reserve Bank of Australia increased interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.1%, and Nvidia’s chief executive laid out a bullish sales projection for AI-inference chips.
1. U.S. futures move lower
As of 04:24 ET (08:24 GMT), contracts tied to the main U.S. indices were down. The Dow futures contract had fallen by 163 points, or roughly 0.4%; S&P 500 futures were off about 28 points, or 0.4%; and Nasdaq 100 futures were lower by 124 points, or approximately 0.5%. The retreat followed a prior session in which the main Wall Street averages had risen on hopes that some international partners might back U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic shipping lane south of Iran through which an estimated one-fifth of the world’s oil transits.
Diplomatic reactions have been mixed. The United Kingdom and France signaled willingness to discuss options with Washington, while a number of U.S. allies rebuffed a direct call for assistance, including Germany and Japan. President Donald Trump had previously suggested the United States would be able to restart tanker traffic without outside help, but he has also said "numerous countries" told him "they’re on the way" to providing support.
2. Oil rises on attack near the strait and halted sailings
Crude prices climbed in early European trading as shippers increasingly avoided transits through the Strait of Hormuz. Container and tanker operators, concerned for crew safety and facing difficulty securing insurance for passages, have effectively stopped most sailings through the narrow channel. Iran has stated it will block ships carrying goods that could benefit the United States or its allies from using the waterway.
Early on Tuesday, a projectile struck a tanker anchored near a port in the United Arab Emirates, according to a report in the New York Times that cited the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center. The ship, which was close to the port of Fujairah at the southern end of the strait, sustained only minor damage, the reporting said. UAE officials also attributed a fire at a significant oil-industry hub to a drone.
Amid these developments, President Trump said he had asked to postpone a planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month. He had previously warned the summit could be delayed if China did not use its influence to help reopen the strait. Observers noted that Iran, which exports oil to China, has allowed Chinese vessels to transit the waterway without incident.
3. Gold ticks higher as safe-haven demand competes with inflation fears
Gold climbed in Asian trading with market attention focused on elevated oil prices, the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, and an array of central bank meetings this week. The metal had dipped briefly below $5,000 an ounce in the previous session, but has generally been trading in a roughly $5,000 to $5,200 per ounce range over the past three weeks.
Rising safe-haven demand supported bullion, but concerns that the Middle East tensions could drive inflation helped offset some of that appeal. Strength in the U.S. dollar also dampened gold’s attraction for some investors. Traders are now turning their attention to major interest-rate decisions, with the Federal Reserve widely expected to hold rates steady at its policy meeting on Wednesday. The Bank of Canada is also scheduled to decide on Wednesday, while the Bank of Japan, Swiss National Bank, Bank of England and European Central Bank are due to make rate calls on Thursday.
4. Reserve Bank of Australia raises its cash rate
The Reserve Bank of Australia increased its policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.1%, marking its second such move this year after an earlier quarter-point hike in February. The decision reflected concerns about a resurgence in inflation toward the end of 2025 and possible energy-price shocks tied to the conflict in the Middle East.
March’s increase was not unanimous: four of the nine members of the RBA’s rate-setting board voted in favor of holding rates rather than lifting them. Speaking at a post-meeting press conference, RBA Governor Michele Bullock said that every board member "saw a need for a hike, and that the only question was over timing," comments market participants interpreted as relatively hawkish.
The RBA cautioned that "Developments in the Middle East remain highly uncertain, but under a wide range of possible scenarios could add to global and domestic inflation," signaling that energy-market disruptions overseas could have spillover effects on domestic price pressures.
5. Nvidia projects large AI-inference market
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang used a keynote at a developers conference in California to outline a bullish outlook for AI inference computing. Huang described the moment as an "inflection" for inference and said, "[t]his is the secret sauce." He also stated, "This is the AI future. This is where AI wants to go."
Huang introduced new server offerings that pair Nvidia’s Vera Rubin servers with a next-generation inference chip developed by Groq. The Groq leadership was acquired through a licensing arrangement that Nvidia described as a $20 billion deal completed last year. According to Huang, the combined system will deliver computing rates approximately 350 times faster than Nvidia’s previous Hopper graphics processing units.
Projecting forward from those technological gains, Huang forecasted that Nvidia would record $1 trillion in AI chip sales by the end of 2027, up from the $500 billion sales target outlined for the current year.
What this means for markets and sectors
Energy markets and companies connected to maritime logistics remain central to price dynamics as disruptions near the Strait of Hormuz continue to influence trader sentiment. Banking and fixed-income markets are poised for volatility around this week’s central bank meetings, particularly the Federal Reserve decision. Technology markets will be watching Nvidia’s announcements closely given the scale of the sales projection and the introduction of new server-chip configurations that target AI-inference workloads.
Conclusion
Investor focus remains divided between geopolitical risks that are pushing oil and safe-haven assets higher and a packed calendar of central bank decisions that will set near-term monetary policy. The Reserve Bank of Australia has already moved to tighten policy, citing inflation and energy-price risks, while Nvidia’s strong projection for AI-inference chip sales underscores the rapid commercial focus on generative and response-oriented AI technologies.