Stock futures were under pressure on Thursday as oil prices added to their surge on supply disruption worries while the Iran war continued. Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 425 points, or 0.9%. S&P 500 futures lost 0.7% along with Nasdaq 100 futures. Crude prices continued to climb after Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC Thursday that the U.S. Navy is “not ready” to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, though it will likely be able to do so by the end of the month, he added. West Texas Intermediate futures traded 6% higher at around $93 per barrel. Brent crude futures advanced 6% to roughly $98 per barrel and briefly touched $100. Traffic in the passageway has practically reached a standstill as the conflict in the Middle East escalates. Overnight, three additional foreign vessels were hit in the Persian Gulf, according to authorities. That comes after three separate ships, including one in the Strait, had been struck Wednesday. U.S. forces on Tuesday had sunk 16 mine-laying Iranian ships near the Strait. Insurance company Chubb was announced as the lead underwriter for a U.S. government-led program to provide insurance to ships attempting to traverse the strait. “Iran’s strategy of sowing economic chaos in the Gulf is working as tankers come under attack and Hormuz stays shuttered, pushing Brent up toward $100,” said Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge. “The U.S. and Israel have military dominance and Iran’s missile/nuclear programs may be degraded, but Tehran’s hardline [government] is firmly entrenched, and it’s plan now seems to be leveraging oil to push Trump further down an offramp.” To help ease energy costs, Wright said late Wednesday that the U.S. will release 172 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It will take about 120 days to deliver the fuel. The International Energy Agency also on Wednesday agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil in an effort to combat the supply disruption caused by the war. Oil prices remained higher in the previous session, however, amid worries that the conflict could be drawn out. These moves come after Trump earlier this week said that the war will end “very soon,” which had caused a reprieve in surging oil prices after they topped $100 a barrel. The S&P 500 and the 30-stock Dow declined on Wednesday as investors remained wary of the impact of the U.S.-Iran war on oil prices throughout the day, as higher costs stoke fears of inflation. Treasury yields inched higher early on Thursday as investors awaited several key strands of economic data and weighed the latest developments in the U.S.-Iran war. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was higher by more than 1 basis point at 4.222%. The 30-year Treasury bond yield added more than 2 basis points to 4.88%. The 2-year Treasury note yield was higher by less than a basis point, reaching 3.645%. Asia-Pacific markets fell Thursday as investors grappled with volatile oil prices and escalating tensions in the Middle East, even after the U.S. and its allies announced an unprecedented emergency release of crude reserves to calm energy markets. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 declined 1.31% to 8,629, dragged by academic and educational services stocks. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slid 1.04% to close at 54,452.96, weighed down by real estate stocks, while the Topix lost 1.32% to end at 3,649.85. South Korea’s Kospi pared losses to end the session 0.48% down at 5,583.25, while the small-cap Kosdaq bucked the trend and gained 1.02% to 1,148.4. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.33% in its final hour of trade, while the CSI 300 was down 0.36% to end the day at 4,687.56. Gold prices were little changed on Thursday, as margin calls on sliding ​equities, a stronger dollar and ​dampened rate-cut bets ​offset safe-haven demand for bullion amid the escalating U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Spot gold was flat at $5,174.13 per ounce. U.S. gold futures for April delivery ⁠also ‌held steady at $5,180.20.