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* Futures down: Dow 0.28%, S&P 0.1%, Nasdaq flat

June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures stalled near

record highs on Wednesday as rising crude oil prices weighed on

sentiment, with a flare-up in the Middle East conflict signaling

little progress in efforts to end the months-long war.

Brent crude futures rose 1.6% to $97.56 a barrel after an

Iranian missile attack damaged Kuwait's airport and the U.S.

military carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, raising

the risk of further supply disruption that could stoke broader

inflation.

"It is not in the interest of either the U.S. or Iran to go

back towards fighting and bombing. Our base case scenario

remains that we would be moving towards a deal; even if it's a

fudge to get the Strait of Hormuz opened," Jefferies economist

Mohit Kumar wrote in a note.

Hopes for an end to the war, alongside a run of upbeat

corporate updates, have underpinned Wall Street's rally to

record highs.

Shares have also been boosted by recent developments that

have reinforced expectations of sustained AI spending.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) has launched new chips for desktop and

laptop systems, while Dell and Hewlett Packard

Enterprise ( HPE ) have topped earnings forecasts and Alphabet

plans to raise $80 billion to fund its AI expansion.

Marvell Technology ( MRVL ) soared 15% in premarket trading

to top $290 billion in market value, extending gains a day after

Nvidia ( NVDA ) CEO Jensen Huang called the chipmaker the next

"trillion-dollar company."

Broadcom ( AVGO ) shares rose 3% ahead of its quarterly

report due after market close. The results would be the next key

test of AI-driven momentum, with the firm's shares rising 14% in

the past four sessions.

Elon Musk's SpaceX plans to fix its IPO price at $135 ‌per

share ahead of its roadshow to raise a record-setting $75

billion, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The listing leads a wave of high-profile private companies

preparing to test public markets including Anthropic and OpenAI

after years of muted large-cap IPO activity.

At 4:23 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 145 points,

or 0.28%, and S&P 500 E-minis were down 7.25 points,

or 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 3 points,

or 0.01%.

All three major stock indexes closed at record highs on

Tuesday, with the S&P 500 finishing above 7,600 for the first

time.

Investors are also focused on upcoming economic data,

including S&P Global's manufacturing and services surveys and

the ISM services index, ahead of Friday's closely watched labor

market report, which could shape expectations for monetary

policy.

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh pledged to follow "the

best of the Fed's traditions" in a note to staff at the start of

his four-year term.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank

Dhaniwala)