By CHAN HO-HIM and MATT OTT, AP Business Writers<\/p>\n
Wall Street rebounded in premarket trading Tuesday and oil prices held above $100 as the U.S. and Iran exchanged military strikes in the fifth week of the war<\/a>.<\/p>\n Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average each rose 0.9% before the opening bell, while Nasdaq futures climbed 0.8%.<\/p>\n U.S. strikes hit a city Tuesday that\u2019s home to one of Iran\u2019s main nuclear sites, sending a massive fireball into the sky, and Tehran attacked a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker<\/a> in the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n The attacks were testament to the intensity of the war<\/a> more than a month after the U.S. and Israel launched their first strikes. The conflict has left more than 3,000 dead and caused major disruptions to the world\u2019s supply of oil and natural gas.<\/p>\n Brent crude futures inched up slightly to $107.56 a barrel on Tuesday, while benchmark U.S. crude rose 83 cents to $103.71 per barrel.<\/p>\n Oil prices have surged in March with Brent crude prices rising more than 40% since the start of the Iran war.<\/p>\n Average U.S. gas prices on Tuesday glided past $4 a gallon<\/a>, the first time since 2022, as the global energy prices soar. Also on Tuesday, official data showed that Europe\u2019s inflation rate in March jumped to 2.5%<\/a>, up from February\u2019s 1.9%.<\/p>\n Maritime traffic disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, where roughly a fifth of the world\u2019s oil normally passes through, remains the pain point for global energy supplies. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump has \u201coptions available\u201d<\/a> in response to Tehran\u2019s threats to control the strait, after Iran was said to have effectively created a \u201ctoll booth\u201d there.<\/p>\n In equities trading early Tuesday, shares of the spice maker McCormick jumped 3% with many anticipating it will absorb the food division of Unilever. Unilever, based in London, is trying to streamline its personal care and cosmetics business. Unilever shares ticked up less than 1%.<\/p>\n