By YURI KAGEYAMA and MICHELLE CHAPMAN, AP Business Writers<\/p>\n
U.S. futures are sliding after intensifying violence in the Middle East<\/a> pushed the price of crude oil<\/a> over $100 a barrel.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the first time Brent crude, the international standard, has reached triple digits in nearly six weeks. Fighting<\/a> in the Middle East has throttled the global flow of oil<\/a> and rising energy prices are adding to inflationary pressures<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brent crude rose 2.8% to $100.70 a barrel. Benchmark U.S. crude gained 2.4% to $95.28 a barrel, and it\u2019s dragging gasoline prices higher with it.<\/p>\n The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline ticked up 7 cents overnight to hit $4.22, now more than a dollar above what it cost at this point last year, according to AAA.<\/p>\n Diesel prices, which can have an outsized impact on consumers because it is used in shipping and production, hit an all-time high Friday<\/a> and has continued to climb since. The average price for a gallon reached $5.94 overnight and is now 9 cents higher than it was Friday.<\/p>\n Futures for the S&P 500 dropped 0.3% before the market opened Wednesday, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined 0.5%. Nasdaq futures fell 0.4%.<\/p>\n Shares of Meta Platforms<\/a> are up more than 5% in premarket trading as the parent company of Instagram and Facebook launched a personal artificial intelligence agent<\/a>, Muse, for people 18 and over who are looking for help with day-to-day tasks like schedules and shopping.<\/p>\n The U.S. this week also release inflation data. On Thursday, the U.S. government will release its August report for inflation at the wholesale level. The more closely watched Consumer Price Index comes out on Friday. The CPI provides details on price changes for specific grocery items, furniture, and clothing, among other categories.<\/p>\n Economists expect consumer inflation to have eased a bit, to 3.3% from July\u2019s 3.4%. That\u2019s well above the 2% target that the Federal Reserve has set as its goal.<\/p>\n The Fed meets next week to decide whether to cut, raise or hold interest rates steady. The traditional move for the Fed when inflation is high is to raise its main interest rate. But President Donald Trump has been lobbying for lower interest rates.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s central bank also will meet next week to decide on its benchmark rate. Market watchers are expecting an increase, with the question shifting to by how much and if there will be more rate hikes this year.<\/p>\n In Europe, France\u2019s CAC 40 slipped 1.6% to 8,183.80, while the German DAX declined 1.4% to 25,648.34. Britain\u2019s FTSE 100 fell 0.9% to 10,711.42. Asian markets were mixed.<\/p>\n The U.S. dollar fell to 153.55 Japanese yen from 153.99. The euro cost $1.1633, inching up from $1.1624.<\/p>\n