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Futures down: Dow 1.17%, S&P 500 1.17%, Nasdaq 1.41%

June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dropped on

Friday after Israel's military strike on Iran escalated tensions

in the oil-rich Middle East and battered risk sentiment across

global markets.

Israel's widescale strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities

were aimed at preventing Tehran from building an atomic weapon.

Iran has promised a harsh response and retaliated by launching

100 drones.

The escalation of tensions in the Middle East - a major

oil-producing region - sent oil prices surging more than 6% and

U.S. energy stocks rose in tandem, with Chevron ( CVX ) and

Exxon advancing nearly 3% in premarket trading.

The strikes come just days ahead of a planned sixth round of

nuclear talks between Iran and the United States. Tensions had

been building as U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to reach

a nuclear deal with Iran appeared to be deadlocked.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the Israeli

offensive a "unilateral action" and said Washington was not

involved.

At 04:32 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 505 points,

or 1.17%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 70.5 points, or

1.17%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 309.25 points,

or 1.41%.

A 1.6% slump in Russell futures pointed to

sharp declines for domestically focused stocks.

Airline stocks dipped as the surge in crude prices raised

concerns about higher fuel costs. Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) was

down 3.9%, United Airlines dropped 4.8%, Southwest

Airlines ( LUV ) lost 2.5% and American Airlines ( AAL )

declined 3.9%.

Defense stocks rose, with Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) up 4.7%,

RTX Corporation ( RTX ) up 5.5%, Northrop Grumman ( NOC ) up

4.2% and L3harris Technologies ( LHX ) up 4.3%.

The S&P 500 still remains just 1.8% below its record

high reached earlier this year, following stellar monthly gains

in May driven by upbeat corporate earnings and a softening in

Trump's trade stance.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq is about 2.8% off its record

closing high reached in December last year.

Investors are now focused on the Federal Reserve's meeting

scheduled next week where policymakers are expected to keep

interest rates unchanged.

(Reporting by Kanchana Chakravarty in Bengaluru; Editin by

Devika Syamnath)