US STOCKS-Futures down after Saudi attacks spark rush for safety

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* Futures down: Dow 0.42%, S&P 0.42%, Nasdaq 0.63%

By Medha Singh
Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on
Monday after the weekend attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities
knocked out 5% of the world's supply, sparking concerns over
global economic growth and heightening tensions in the Middle
East.
Oil prices soared as much as 20% after the attack on the
world's biggest oil exporter, before easing off their peaks as
U.S. President Donald Trump authorized the use of the country's
emergency oil stockpile to ensure stable supplies. O/R
Shares of energy companies soared, with the S&P 500-listed
Devon Energy Corp DVN.N , Marathon Oil Corp MRO.O , Concho
Resources Inc CXO.N and Apache Corp APA.N up between 8.3%
and 10.7%. Oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and Chevron Corp
CVX.N advanced more than 3%.
In contrast, shares of airlines and cruise-liners dropped in
anticipation of higher fuel costs. American Airlines Group Inc
AAL.O , Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N and Carnival Corp CCL.N
fell about 3%.
Adding to the downbeat mood, data from China showed growth
in industrial production in the world's second-largest economy
was at its weakest 17-1/2 years in August. Investors' flight to safety lifted prices of gold, Japanese
yen JPY= and sent the U.S. benchmark 10-year Treasury bond
yields US10YT=RR down sharply from their multi-week highs.
Interest-rate sensitive bank such as Bank of America Corp
BAC.N , Citigroup Inc C.N , JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N ,
Goldman Sachs GS.N and Morgan Stanley MS.N were down between
1.2% and 2%. US/
This week's centerpiece is the Federal Reserve's monetary
policy decision on Wednesday where traders see a near 80% chance
of a quarter-point interest rate cut, the second reduction in
rates this year.
Hints on whether the central bank will keep easing its
monetary policy will be crucial in determining how far Wall
Street's strong rally will last.
Cooling trade tensions between the United States and China
last week has brought the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX less than 1%
below its record high.
At 7:04 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 113 points,
or 0.42%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 12.5 points, or
0.42% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 50 points, or
0.63%.
Among other movers, General Motors Co GM.N fell 2.9% after
the United Auto Workers (UAW) went on strike just after midnight
Sunday and about 48,000 hourly workers at its facilities are
headed for the picket lines in the morning.