Global markets were mostly lower as supply concerns in the Middle ​East caused oil prices to spike again and investors braced ‌for likely interest rate hikes in both the United States and Japan this week.

On Wall Street, Nasdaq futures led losses, dragged ⁠by a ​selloff in AI heavyweights after top U.S. executives said development of the technology should be slowed due to safety concerns.

TSX futures followed sentiment lower ahead of August inflation numbers.

“We now expect the Fed to hike twice this year, in September and December,” said ‌Michael Feroli, chief ​U.S. economist at JPMorgan. “At this stage, ‌failing to back up words with action could put the credibility of the institution at risk.”

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.24 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.68 per cent, Germany’s DAX declined 0.53 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.73 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.81 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.45 per cent.

Oil prices rose after new strikes on Saudi Arabian energy and civilian infrastructure ⁠and Iranian ​attacks on ships in the Gulf compounded supply concerns following the closing of a key Saudi oil pipeline.

Brent crude futures climbed 2.5 per cent to US$107.20 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures gained 2.4 per cent to US$102.50 a barrel.

“This follows a step-up ​in attacks on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure, including targeting ‌the crucial East-West pipeline,” said ING commodity strategists, though they noted it was unclear how severe any potential damage was or how long the pipeline would be out of action.

In other commodities, spot gold was down 0.9 per cent to US$4,308.24 an ⁠ounce. U.S. gold futures dropped 1.4 per cent to US$4,348.50.

The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.

The day range on the loonie was 71.92 US cents to 72.13 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.17 per cent against the greenback over the past month. It traded at $1.3895 per US$1.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, advanced 0.46 per cent to 99.58.

The euro dropped 0.51 per cent to US$1.1542. The British pound fell 0.33 per cent to US$1.3481.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.965 per cent.

China’s aggregate yuan financing and new yuan loans

Japan’s industrial production

8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian CPI for August. The Street expects a month-over-month decline of 0.1 per cent but a 3.0-per-cent rise year-over-year.

8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s manufacturing sales and new orders for July. Estimates are drops of 0.1 per cent and 5.0 per cent month-over-month, respectively.

Also: Canada Investment Summit in Toronto (through Tuesday)

With Reuters and The Canadian Press