Nasdaq futures slid and Treasury yields rose to a spate of new multi-year highs in afternoon European trade as investors take positions ahead of crucial U.S. inflation prints Thursday and Friday.

Brent crude oil hovered around $102 a barrel as hostilities between the U.S. and Iran continued to escalate. U.S. forces said they ramped up their attacks on Iranian tankers over the past week. Iran is showing an increased appetite to escalate the conflict, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Treasurys weakened across the yield curve as the commencement of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's repurchase program failed to soothe investors. Two-year Treasury yields edged higher to 4.455%, above Wednesday's two-year high. Ten-year yields hit 4.876%, their highest level since November 2023. Yields on 30-year bonds rose to 5.323%.

"If Scott Bessent thought this move would stabilize the U.S. bond market, he was wrong," XTB's Kathleen Brooks said.

The Treasury will auction $22 billion in 30-year bonds later Thursday.

Eurozone bond yields also ticked higher after opening the session lower, extending multiyear highs hit in the last session, ahead of the European Central Bank's widely expected quarter-point rate increase. Inflation concerns driven by higher energy prices are weighing on confidence in the continent's economy. European natural-gas prices are at their highest since the end of 2022.

In equity markets, Nasdaq futures fell 0.6%. Chip stocks weakened premarket, though hyperscaler stocks broadly strengthened. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat, while S&P 500 futures dropped 0.15%.

Investors will look to earnings reports from Oracle and Adobe after the closing bell. Oracle will be watched for signals on the artificial-intelligence build-out, while Adobe will likely be viewed through the lens of software's resilience to insurgent AI.

European stock indexes gave up early gains after a difficult session Wednesday. The Europe-wide Stoxx 600 slipped 0.3% after closing at its lowest level since late July in the last session.

Equity markets in Asia were mixed, though Hong Kong-listed stocks fell sharply. South Korea's Kospi was 0.25% lower, while the Hang Seng dropped 1.3%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average climbed 0.2%.

The dollar rose 0.1% against a basket of global currencies. Bitcoin slipped 0.5% to $77,854.20, while New York gold contracts fell 0.8% to $4,424.89 a troy ounce.