Wall Street futures pointed lower pre-bell Thursday on mounting Persian Gulf hostilities and crude prices, and as traders weighed rich tech-sector valuations.

In the futures, the S&P 500 fell 0.9%, the Nasdaq declined 1.6% and the Dow Jones was off 0.6%.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded up 2.2% to $99.26 a barrel in morning hours, after Washington ordered evacuation of certain US personnel and families from Saudi Arabia.

Houthis, in Yemen, launched fresh deadly missile attacks on Saudi Arabia transportation and oil facilities on Wednesday.

Yields on 10-year US Treasuries, considered a safe-haven refuge, eased modestly to 5.07% in pre-bell trades.

The VanEck Semiconductor fund (SMH), a proxy for the sector, traded down 3.1% pre-bell.

Asian exchanges traded mostly lower overnight on sagging tech shares, while European bourses tracked south midday on the continent.

Lockheed Martin (LMT) shares rose 2.8% pre-bell after the defense contractor reported Q3 earnings and revenues above expectations and boosted guidance, in morning hours.

Valero Energy (VLO) traded up 1.3% pre-bell after the oil refiner reported Q3 earnings and revenue above outlooks, in pre-market release.

On the economic calendar is the weekly jobless claims bulletin at 8:30 am ET, following by the leading indicators report for September at 10 am.

The weekly EIA natural gas report logs at 10:30 am, followed by the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index for October at 11 am.

In pre-market action, bitcoin traded at $81,964, and spot gold commanded $4,090 an ounce.