Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on June 9, 2026. <\/p>\n
NYSE<\/p>\n
U.S. stock futures fell early Wednesday after the U.S. launched “self-defense strikes” against Iran<\/a>, in retaliation for the downing of a helicopter a day earlier.<\/p>\n S&P 500 futures<\/a> and Nasdaq 100 futures<\/a> shed 0.50% and 0.87%, respectively. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> fell by 140 points, or 0.28%.<\/p>\n Asia-Pacific markets closed mostly lower Wednesday as tech stocks sold off. South Korea’s Kospi slumped 4.52%, while Japan’s\u00a0Nikkei 225<\/a>\u00a0fell 1.89%. Mainland China’s CSI 300 lost 1.11% to 4,748.59. Australia’s benchmark S&P\/ASX 200, bucked the broader trend, dropping 0.57% to 8,653.30.<\/p>\n Oil prices ticked higher after the strike, and West Texas Intermediate crude futures<\/a> were last up roughly 1%, trading around $89 a barrel.<\/p>\n Tensions in the Middle East ramped up again on Tuesday evening, after U.S. forces launched strikes against Iran “in response to yesterday’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter,” U.S. Central Command said. President Donald Trump<\/a> had earlier accused Iran<\/a> of shooting down the helicopter, which he said was patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>. <\/p>\n Iran has not directly claimed responsibility for shooting down the helicopter. However, this latest development threatens the fragile ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, and could hinder progress toward a peace deal. <\/p>\n In regular trading Tuesday, chip stocks sold off again, dragging the S&P 500<\/a> and Nasdaq Composite<\/a> lower by 0.26% and 0.97%, respectively. On the other hand, the blue-chip Dow<\/a> rose 86.10 points, or 0.17%.<\/p>\n Tuesday’s rout was an extension of last week’s pullback, which followed a rally driven by artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n “If we’re talking about the substance of what we’ve seen over the past few weeks, it’s really been concentrated in that memory, semiconductor area that’s lifted the market. It’s been the real force behind everything, and really it’s run so hard that it feels very toppy at this moment,” said Marta Norton<\/a>, chief investment strategist for Empower Investments, on CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime<\/a>” on Tuesday afternoon. <\/p>\n “So, does this mean that there’s some sort of fundamental deterioration?” she added. “I’m not so sure about that, but certainly there seems to be stretched sentiment that we’re getting some sort of correction too.”<\/p>\n