Wall St futures edge lower as Middle East war enters second week
Wall Street stock index futures edged lower on Friday as investors assessed comments on U.S. military involvement in the Middle East conflict, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's warning on rising inflation ahead.
As the fatal aerial war between Israel and Iran approached its second week, the White House said on Thursday President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved on Israel's side.
"While the immediate prospect of a U.S. intervention in Iran may have diminished, the fact this is reportedly a two-week hiatus means it will remain a live issue for the markets going into next week," Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said in an email.
The oil price volatility triggered by the Middle East conflict has also added on to concerns around tariff-based price pressures in the United States.
The Fed, expected to balance the risk of slowing growth and higher inflation, kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, in line with market expectations. Policymakers, however, cautioned about inflation picking up pace over the summer as the economic effects of steep import tariffs kick in.
Money market moves show traders are pricing in about 47 basis points of rate cuts by the end of 2025, with a 59% chance of a 25-bps rate cut in September, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
At 05:37 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 105 points, or 0.25%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 16.75 points, or 0.28%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 67.5 points, or 0.31%
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are set for weekly gains, while the blue-chip Dow is on track for mild weekly declines.
Crypto stocks rose in premarket trade as bitcoin prices soared nearly 2%. Coinbase Global was up 1.8%, and Strategy gained 1.1%.
Shares of Tesla gained 1.2% among megacap stocks.
Supermarket operator Kroger Co gained nearly 1% ahead of quarterly results due before the opening bell.
Stablecoin issuer Circle extended gains from its previous session, with shares last up 12.6%.
Wall Street's strong gains last month, primarily driven by a softening in Trump's trade stance and strength in corporate earnings, had pushed the benchmark S&P 500 index close to its record peaks before the ongoing conflict in the Middle East made investors risk-averse.
The S&P 500 index stood nearly 3% below its record level, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq remained 3.3% lower.
Philadelphia Fed business outlook data for June is scheduled at 08:30 a.m. ET.
(Reporting by Kanchana Chakravarty in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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