Stock futures fell on Friday morning as oil prices resumed their rally following a brief move lower. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 130 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures slid 0.4%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were trading nearly 0.6% lower. Futures tied to all three major averages had been pointing to a positive open earlier in the morning. Stocks fell on Thursday but closed well off their lows after Netanyahu said Israel was assisting the U.S. “in intel and other means” to open the Strait of Hormuz. He added that Iran had lost the ability to enrich uranium and produce ballistic missiles, noting the conflict may end faster than many fear. In a note on Friday morning, Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid said today will mark the 15th trading day of the conflict so far. “That is on average when we bottom out in U.S. equities after a geopolitical shock,” he said. “However, it would be hard to trade on the back of averages at the moment with so much uncertainty, so headlines will be more important than history here, but if you’re looking for optimism, the normal geopolitical playbook would at least give you hope. So far we haven’t deviated from it.” The stock market could face additional volatility on Friday due to the so-called quadruple witching event — the quarterly expiration of stock options, index options, index futures, and single-stock futures that occurs four times a year. As trillions of dollars in derivatives roll off the board, the event tends to lead to heavier trading volumes and sharper intraday swings thanks to investors rebalancing or unwinding positions. The major averages are still on pace to post their fourth losing week in a row, however. The S&P 500 and Dow enter Friday’s session down 0.4% and 1.2%, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite has shed 0.1%. “All the near-term action depends on the Strait opening,” said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “We think it opens in a matter of weeks not months.” Both the Dow and Nasdaq are also nearing correction territory. The Dow is 8.3% below its record close set Feb. 10, and the Nasdaq sits nearly 8% away from its all-time closing high reached Oct. 29. Still, with the S&P 500 holding around 5% off of its all-time high, Unlimited CEO Bob Elliott thinks the market is still too optimistic about the impact the war could have on earnings and the economy. “When you look at stocks compared to bonds, the markets are pricing in stronger growth since the beginning of this conflict. That doesn’t make any sense,” he told CNBC’s “Closing Bell: Overtime” in an interview. “Households basically getting something like 1% to 2% of real purchasing power taken away from them, even if this conflict resolves tomorrow.” U.S. Treasury yields edged slightly higher in early Friday trading as investors continue to navigate growing uncertainty over how the Middle East conflict is impacting the economy. The 10-year Treasury yield — the benchmark for U.S. government borrowing — rose 1.7 basis points to 4.3%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note, which is more sensitive to short-term Federal Reserve rates decisions, rose by 3 basis point to trade at 3.87%. The 30-year bond yield, meanwhile, gained 1.7 basis points to 4.871%. Asia-Pacific markets mostly declined on Friday, following volatile trading on Wall Street overnight, as the Middle East war and disruptions to energy supply keep investors jittery. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.82% lower at 8,4284. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down over 1% as of its last hour of trading while mainland China’s CSI 300 index reversed earlier gains to close 0.35% lower at 4,567. The Hang Seng tech index was last down 2.6%, with Xiaomi Corp as the largest dragger, falling more than 7%. South Korea’s blue-chip Kospi was the rare exception, rising 0.31% to end the session at 5,781.2 while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 1.58% to 1,161.52. Japan’s markets were closed for a public holiday. Oil prices were higher on Friday even after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington may soon lift sanctions on Iranian crude stored aboard tankers — a move aimed at easing price pressures following Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. International benchmark Brent crude futures with May delivery rose 1.3% to $110.28 per barrel, reversing earlier losses, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures with April delivery eked out gains of 0.1% to $96.20. “In the coming days, we may unsanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water, about 140 million barrels,” Bessent told Fox Business Network. He said bringing the sanctioned Iranian crude back into global markets would help cap prices over the next 10 to 14 days. Gold prices rose on Friday on technical buying, but were headed for a third consecutive weekly decline, pressured by a firm U.S. dollar and as a hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve dampened hopes for near-term interest rate cuts. Spot gold rose 0.4% to $4,6,67.93 per ounce, rebounding from a near two-month low hit in the previous session. U.S. gold futures for April delivery rose 1.3% to $4,664. “Gold held some important technical supports in the weekly time frame, and gold may see a recovery to the level where it broke down, around $4,800,” said Nicholas Frappell, global head of institutional markets at ABC Refinery. However, bullion has lost over 6% so far this week. Spot gold has fallen more than 10% since the U.S.-Israeli strike on Iran on February 28. The dollar has emerged as one of the clearest “safe-haven” winners, strengthening over 2% so far this month. Meanwhile, the Fed kept rates steady on Wednesday, echoing major developed market central banks, and indicated that inflation could rise. Interest rate futures show traders see little chance of a Fed reduction this year, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool. Gold is considered an inflation hedge, but high interest rates weigh on it by making yield-bearing assets more attractive, while a stronger dollar makes the bullion more expensive for holders of other currencies.