(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 20 apr - US futures were lower as rising tensions in the Persian Gulf raised uncertainty over prospects for US-Iran peace talks.

Wall Street is coming off a winning week boosted by the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq both racked up all-time highs, rising 4.5% and 7.2%, respectively for the week.

The US seizure of an Iranian ship this weekend ratcheted up tensions in the Gulf area as Iran retaliated by firing on vessels and reversed an earlier decision to allow traffic to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran, which accuses Washington of already breaking a ceasefire deal due to expire this Wednesday, has declined to join another round of peace talks in Pakistan planned by the US.

US president Donald Trump meantime renewed threats to blow up all power plants and bridges in Iran if Tehran does not agree to a deal.

Oil prices jumped on the mounting uncertainty with Brent up 5% at around 95 dollars per barrel.

The earnings season meanwhile marches on with Tesla, Intel and United Airlines among companies reporting this week.

On the stocks front, shares in Marvell Technology rose 5% in premarket trade after a media report the chipmaker is in talks with Google to build new artificial-intelligence chips.

Futures on the Dow Jones were down 252.00 points, or 0.51%, S&P 500 futures were down 33.50 points, or 0.47%, while.

futures on the Nasdaq were down 121.25 points, or 0.45%.

(RADIOCOR) 20-04-26 14:17:21 (0371) 5 NNNN