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* Futures: S&P down 0.12%, Nasdaq down 0.21%, Dow flat

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Futures for Wall Street's main indexes dipped on Wednesday as growing tensions in the Middle East spurred demand for safe-haven assets, while investors monitored earnings reports for impact of inflation and higher interest rates.

A huge explosion at a Gaza hospital killed hundreds of Palestinians, wrecking a diplomatic mission by U.S. President Joe Biden, who arrived in Israel on Wednesday but was snubbed by Arab leaders who called off an emergency summit.

Oil prices surged over 2% on concerns about potential supply disruptions, steering a 0.9%-1% gain in energy firms Chevron , Exxon Mobil and Occidental Petroleum in premarket trading.

Gold prices rallied to a near one-month high on safe-haven demand.

Investors kept an eye out for earnings from U.S. bank Morgan Stanley, custodian bank State Street, regional lenders U.S. Bancorp and Citizens Financial Group during the day.

Procter & Gamble and Abbott Laboratories are also set to report before market open, while Tesla and Netflix are due after the closing bell.

A slew of Federal Reserve officials, including New York's John Williams and Board Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman will speak later in the day, ahead of Chair Jerome Powell's remarks on Thursday.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Tuesday it has taken much longer than expected for inflation to come down, and it is "still too high."

On Tuesday, data showed U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in September, cementing expectations that economic growth accelerated sharply in the third quarter.

At 5:18 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 8 points, or 0.02%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 5.5 points, or 0.12%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 31.5 points, or 0.21%.

Nvidia fell 1.1% following Tuesday's 4.7% drop, on lingering concerns over the Biden administration's plans to halt shipments of more advanced AI chips designed by the chipmaker and others to China.

United Airlines Holdings lost 4.7% after forecasting weaker fourth-quarter profit due to higher costs. Rivals American Airlines and Delta Air Lines also shed 1.1% and 0.6%, respectively. (Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)