US stock futures slipped on Friday morning as oil prices picked up steam again after a brief pause.
Dow futures fell about 200 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also edged lower, despite earlier signals pointing to a positive open.
Wall Street is facing some serious headwinds as a hawkish Fed tone and escalation of the Middle East war continue to drag the indices down.
The investors recovered some losses on Thursday after Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu said that they are assisting the US to open the Strait of Hormuz.
5 things to know before Wall Street opens
1. Oil market swings have been shaping investor sentiment ever since the US and Israel’s conflict with Iran began.
The prices remained choppy on Friday, as they initially slipped before turning slightly higher as trading progressed.
The similar volatility is seen across gold and silver prices.
Gold rebounded to some level of Friday and was trading around 0.3% higher at $4,662.51 an ounce, but silver prices continue to tank and were seen around 1.7% lower at $71.62 an ounce.
2. Some activity is also seen around the M&A sector on Friday as Unilever said it is in talks with McCormick & Co. over a possible sale of its foods business.
Both companies said discussions are continuing, but cautioned that there is no certainty that any deal will be reached.
If completed, the transaction would bring Unilever brands, including Marmite and Colman’s, under the same roof as McCormick’s Cholula hot sauce.
This will mark another step in Unilever’s push toward higher-growth beauty and personal care categories.
3. Treasury yields ticked higher early Friday as investors attempted to determine the impact of the Middle East crisis on the markets.
The 10-year yield, a key benchmark for borrowing costs, climbed about 1.7 basis points to 4.3%.
Meanwhile, the more rate-sensitive 2-year yield rose 3 basis points to 3.87%, and the 30-year yield edged up 1 basis point to 4.87%.
4. The relative easing in oil prices on Friday couldn’t help the investors in Asian markets sustain gains.
Trading across the region was uneven, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling 1%, Shanghai slipping 1.2%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 losing 0.8%.
In contrast, South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.3%, and India’s Sensex rose 0.4%. The muted session in Asia came after modest losses on Wall Street overnight.
5. The sentiment was similar across Europe, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 up about 0.9% in early trade on Friday.
Germany’s DAX rose 1.4%, France’s CAC 40 gained 0.9%, and London’s FTSE 100 added 0.6%, as banking and construction shares helped lead the recovery.
The investors are treading cautiously as the central banks across Europe kept interest rates unchanged in their recent meeting and flagged the Iran conflict as a fresh source of uncertainty.
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