U.S. Stock Index Futures Fall Amid Global Tensions

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures fell on Tuesday as worries about escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine affected risk sentiment globally, with investors rushing to safe-haven assets.

President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia might consider using nuclear weapons if faced with a conventional missile assault supported by a nuclear power, especially after the U.S. allowed Ukraine to fire American-made long-range missiles deep into Russia.

At 5:35 a.m. ET:
– Dow E-minis were down 254 points, or 0.58%
– U.S. S&P 500 E-minis were down 24 points, or 0.41%
– Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 58.5 points, or 0.28%

Investors rushed to safe-haven assets including government bonds, gold, and the Japanese yen.

Analysts noted a report from Ukrainian news agency RBC Ukraine, which cited a military official stating that Kyiv had executed its first attack inside Russia with an ATACMS missile.

The CBOE Volatility index briefly surged to its highest level since the November 5 U.S. election, marking an increase of 1.24 points at 16.79.

Futures tracking the small-cap Russell 2000 dropped 1.2%.

Shares of U.S. defense companies saw gains in premarket trading, with RTX Corp and Lockheed Martin up by 1.8% and 1.4%, respectively.

Gold miners also saw a rise as gold prices increased, with Barrick Gold gaining 2.2% and Harmony Gold Mining rising 4.7%.

The rise in geopolitical tensions comes alongside investor considerations of potential policy changes from President-elect Donald Trump's administration, the anticipated path of U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, and quarterly earnings from AI chip firm Nvidia, which reports on Wednesday.

Nvidia gained 0.9% in premarket trading.

In contrast, EV maker Tesla saw a decline of 1.2% after significant gains in the previous session, following reports about Trump's transition team planning to establish federal regulations for autonomous vehicles.

Retailer Walmart, scheduled to report results before the bell on Tuesday, is expected to show a roughly 4% revenue increase, with its shares up 1.8%.

AI server maker Super Micro Computer surged 32.2% after naming BDO USA as its auditor and submitting a plan to Nasdaq to avoid delisting.

The Nasdaq and S&P 500 had closed higher on Monday.