U.S. stock futures fell and Treasury yields ticked higher in early afternoon European trading after Brent crude oil topped $100 a barrel for the first time since July.

American forces destroyed five Iranian oil tankers in response to attacks by Iran on U.S. warships, U.S. Central Command said, adding pressure to an already tight oil market. Shrinking storage levels and rising Chinese demand are biting as markets increasingly anticipate an indeterminate block to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude oil contracts for November delivery were last 3% higher at $100.85 a barrel, while WTI rose 2.7% to $95.58 a barrel.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average continued Tuesday's pattern to lead the losses, with futures for the index shedding 207 points, or 0.6%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.35% and Nasdaq futures slipped 0.45% after both indexes began the European trading day on the up.

Meta stock was one positive outlier, jumping more than 5% premarket following the release of its new artificial-intelligence agent, Muse.

Treasurys fell on the surge in Brent, with yields rising through the European morning. Yields on 10-year Treasurys rose by 1.8 basis points to 4.812%, while 30-year yields edged up 0.4 basis points to 5.252%. Eurozone bond yields also ticked higher ahead of the European Central Bank's policy decision Thursday. In European debt markets, the 10-year German Bund yield hit a new 15-year high.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to set out the scale of the Treasury's bond repurchases, kicking into action his plan to increase buybacks of longer-dated bonds.

Asian equity indexes were mixed as the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.2% while the Shanghai Composite added 0.3%. European stocks fell sharply as higher Brent and natural gas prices threatened to ramp up inflationary pressure on the continent. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 dropped 1.5%--on track to hand back more than a month's gains--as European natural gas prices hit a three-year high.

"European indices are more vulnerable to changes in energy prices and the global economic outlook, as they are more cyclical than their international peers," Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya wrote in a research note.

In currency markets, the yen strengthened further against the dollar after Bessent dared traders to bet against the Japanese currency.

"I am the house now," Bessent said at an event in Texas on Tuesday, pointing out the Treasury's asymmetrical access to market-sensitive information. The greenback fell to its lowest level in nearly three weeks against a basket of currencies, and dropped 0.6% to 153.05 yen.

Bitcoin rose 0.7% to $79,030.92, though the cryptocurrency continued to find resistance at the $80,000 mark. Gold futures also nudged higher, rising 0.2% to $4,449.39 a troy ounce.