Nasdaq slips ahead of earnings from Tesla, Alphabet

Oil prices are surging today, as the Middle East and Ukraine wars squeeze energy markets on multiple fronts and supply buffers run low.

Futures for Brent crude, the international benchmark, are trading more than $20 above their early-July lows. Oil’s quick return to near-$100-a-barrel levels has already pushed average gas prices at the pump above $4 a gallon and is stoking inflation concerns.

Those risks seem to be weighing on equity investors today, with the Nasdaq composite slipping after yesterday’s chip-stock rally. Big Tech earnings will be in focus this afternoon, with updates from Alphabet, Tesla and IBM due after the bell.

10-year Treasury yields are approaching 4.65%, and investors now see the likelihood of the Fed raising interest rates next Wednesday at just under a quarter, from about 16% at the start of this week.