(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 9 apr - US futures were lower as cracks started to appear in a two-week ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran.

Wall Street ended sharply higher yesterday after the announcement of a deal to pause hostilities in the Iran war ahead of talks on a more lasting truce later this week. The Dow closed up 2.9%, the S&P 500 rose 2.5% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 2.8%.

But late Wednesday, Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Washington had violated the agreement through Israel's continued attacks on Lebanon, a drone entry into Iranian airspace and the denial of the Islamic Republic's right to enrich uranium.

In consequence Tehran again halted the passage of tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global oil trade that has been shut for weeks amid hostilities.

The two-week ceasefire is conditional on the Strait being reopened for business.

On the data front, traders will be watching the February print of the PCE index, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of price pressures. They will also monitor weekly jobless claims or clues on how the US jobs market is faring.

Futures on the Dow Jones were down 175.00 points, or 0.36%, S&P 500 futures were down 18.00 points, or 0.26%, while.

futures on the Nasdaq were down 40.00 points, or 0.16%.

(RADIOCOR) 09-04-26 14:00:59 (0418) 5 NNNN