The tit-for-tat attacks on key oil and gas infrastructures across the Middle East sent energy prices soaring.<\/p>\n
U.S.\u00a0natural gas prices<\/a>\u00a0were last seen 1.5% higher, trading at $3.112 per million British thermal units. Front-month Nymex\u00a0RBOB gasoline<\/a>\u00a0for April delivery, meanwhile, rose almost 1% to $3.13 and hit a nearly four-year high.<\/p>\n International benchmark\u00a0Brent crude\u00a0futures<\/a> rose 1.18% to end at $108.65 per barrel Thursday, after crossing $119 earlier in the session.\u00a0U.S. West Texas Intermediate<\/a>\u00a0futures dropped 0.19% to $96.14.<\/p>\n The market fallout from the regional war also extended to metals<\/a>, with gold and silver shedding around 5% and 10% respectively before paring losses. <\/p>\n Signaling efforts at calming concerns, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he was not deploying ground troops, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel would refrain from repeating attacks on Iranian energy facilities. <\/p>\n U.S.-aligned countries, including Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan issued a joint statement expressing “our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait” of Hormuz. <\/p>\n Australia’s\u00a0S&P\/ASX 200<\/a> slipped 0.27% in early Asia trade. <\/p>\n Hong Kong Hang Seng index<\/a> futures were at 25,312, lower than the index’s last close of 25,500.58.<\/p>\n South Korea’s blue-chip Kospi was the exception, rising nearly 1% while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 0.94%. <\/p>\n Japan’s markets were closed for a public holiday.<\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon Futures tied to the 30-stock index were up 111 points, or 0.2%.\u00a0S&P 500 futures<\/a>\u00a0gained roughly 0.3%, and\u00a0Nasdaq-100 futures<\/a>\u00a0added 0.2%, after Wall Street fell overnight.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a>\u00a0declined 0.44% to 46,021.43 points. The\u00a0S&P 500<\/a>\u00a0fell 0.27% to end the session at 6,606.49 points, while the\u00a0Nasdaq Composite<\/a>\u00a0slumped 0.28% to 22,090.69. <\/p>\n The Federal Reserve kept the interest rate unchanged earlier this week, with Chair Jerome Power cautioning that the economic outlook remains uncertain as hostilities continued in the Middle East. <\/p>\n![\"hide](\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/a54b41835a8b60db28c2.svg\")
<\/p>\n