US STOCKS-US stock futures edge lower as investors weigh Middle East war risks

Updates prices throughout

By Johann M Cherian and Ragini Mathur

March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged down on Thursday as the Middle East conflict entered its sixth day, raising concerns of fresh inflation pressures that could complicate the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decisions.

Helping limit the losses was a strong forecast from Broadcom <AVGO.O> that projected its artificial intelligence chip revenue would exceed $100 billion next year, sending shares of the chip designer up 6.4% in premarket trading.

Despite the U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran showing no signs of cooling off, Wall Street's main indexes have fared better than their European and Asian counterparts this week, aided primarily by a rebound in technology stocks that bore the brunt of February's selloff.

The tech-led recovery in the prior session helped the Nasdaq recover all weekly losses, putting it on track to close the week in positive territory if those gains hold through Friday.

Still, a prolonged disruption in shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz is likely to further fuel inflation pressures through energy and shipping costs, at a time when U.S. tariffs have already complicated the Fed's monetary policy outlook.

Any signs that crude prices could hit $100 a barrel would be worrisome for markets and investors were on the lookout for reports that the conflict could be nearing its end.

Policymakers have broadly acknowledged the need to wait and gauge the impact on the economy, although investors are anticipating price pressures to delay a 25-basis-point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve to September from July, according to LSEG-compiled data.

"The Federal Reserve's policy outlook is becoming more complicated. A prolonged energy shock would reduce flexibility for rate cuts, particularly if headline inflation reaccelerates. That risk is now being priced into markets in real time," said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

At 07:17 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were down 173 points, or 0.35%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 11.25 points, or 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 38.5 points, or 0.15%.

The CBOE volatility index .VIX was marginally higher, reflecting broader investor caution, while futures tied to the rate-sensitive Russell 2000 index RTYcv1 were down 0.5%.

Travel stocks that are the most sensitive to energy prices were trading in the flat-to-lower band. American Airlines AAL.O slipped 0.7%, while Carnival CCL.N was little changed

Prices of safe-haven precious metals edged higher, aiding a 1.7% gain in miner Harmony Gold HMY.N.

A prolonged conflict could also disrupt supplies of key semiconductor manufacturing materials and impede data center deployment by AI leaders in the Middle East. Chip stocks were also mixed, with Nvidia NVDA.O down 0.4%, while Marvell Technology MRVL.O rose 2%.

Energy companies such as Cheniere Energy LNG.N and Valero Energy VLO.N were marginally higher, while defense stocks such as RTX RTX.N and Aerovironment AVAV.O added 0.4% and 2.1%, respectively.

Among other notable movers, Trade Desk TTD.O jumped 20.1% after The Information reported that OpenAI held early talks with the advertising technology firm to sell ads.

Fresh Fed remarks from U.S. Fed Vice Chair Michelle Bowman are due later in the day, alongside the weekly jobless claims report. The spotlight will shift to the non-farm payrolls report on Friday.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian, Ragini Mathur and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Devika Syamnath)

((johann.mcherian@thomsonreuters.com, pranav.kashyap@tr.com; +919886482111;))