US STOCKS-Wall St set to open lower after Saudi attacks; energy stocks surge

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* Energy stocks soar as oil prices hit near 4-month high
* Airlines, cruise operators fall on prospects of higher
cost
* United Auto Workers call for strike on GM; shares fall
* Futures down: Dow 0.33%, S&P 0.31%, Nasdaq 0.50%

(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh
Sept 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open lower on
Monday as 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.
The attack on the world's biggest oil exporter sent oil
prices up as much as 20% before they eased 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
"The Dow futures aren't down too terribly at this point, so
we'll have to wait and see," said Scott Brown, chief economist
at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.
"I would worry more about what happens down the line and the
increased uncertainty, prospects for military action."
Shares of energy companies soared, with the S&P 500-listed
Marathon Oil Corp MRO.O , Devon Energy Corp DVN.N , Concho
Resources Inc CXO.N and Apache Corp APA.N up between 9.7%
and 12.8%. Oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and Chevron Corp
CVX.N advanced more than 3.4%.
From a stock perspective, the supply disruptions should put
a bid into U.S. energy stocks, which have meaningfully lagged
the broader market, JPM analysts wrote in a note.
"In particular, we could see a positive move in the oily
small and mid-cap group," the analysts wrote.
The S&P 500 energy .SPNY sector's 5.6% rise this year was
much below the 20% climb for broader S&P 500 .SPX .
Meanwhile, shares of airlines and cruise line operators
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 between 3% and 5%.
Investors' flight to safety lifted gold prices, the 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 banks such as Bank of America Corp
BAC.N , Citigroup Inc C.N , JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N and
Morgan Stanley MS.N were down more than 1%. US/
This week's centerpiece is the Federal Reserve's monetary
policy decision on Wednesday where the central bank is widely
expected to deliver the second interest rate cut this year of a
quarter basis points.
Hints on whether the central bank will keep easing its
monetary policy will be crucial in determining how long 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 8:26 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 89 points,
or 0.33%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 9.25 points, or
0.31% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 39.75 points, or
0.5%.
Among other movers, General Motors Co GM.N fell 2.4% after
the United Auto Workers (UAW) went on strike on Sunday, the
first nationwide strike at GM in 12 years.