Stock futures fell early Friday as the conflict between Israel and Iran was reignited. Traders also assessed the latest batch of earnings reports, including numbers from Netflix. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 71 points, or 0.2%. S&P 500 futures fell 0.5%, and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.3%. A person familiar with the matter told NBC News that Israel conducted a limited strike against Iran. Earlier, Iran’s Fars news agency reported explosions were heard near the airport at the country’s central Isfahan city, but the reason was unknown. Oil prices briefly spiked more than 3% in Asia morning trading, with global benchmark Brent crude futures topping $90 a barrel. Crude futures have since given up those gains, with both the international benchmark and West Texas Intermediate futures down slightly. A pullback in Netflix also weighed on sentiment. The streamer fell more than 4% even after quarterly earnings beat on the top and bottom line. Netflix’s subscribers jumped 16% from the previous year, but it said it would no longer report paid memberships starting in 2025. The S&P 500 is heading for its worst week in almost six months. The S&P 500 has fallen for five sessions in a row, bringing its week-to-date losses to 2.2%. It would be the large-cap benchmark’s third straight negative week and its biggest losing week since Oct. 27, 2023. The S&P 500 is now 4.8% off its 52-week high. The market pullback has been largely driven by tempered expectations for a rate cut soon. Economists and strategists now see the Fed waiting until at least September to lower rates and are increasingly entertaining the possibility of no reductions at all this year. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who’s not voting on rate decisions this year, told Fox News Thursday that the central bank needs to be patient as long as it takes before cutting rates and the first move may not take place until 2025. “The stock market’s biggest worry right now is inflation, which is re-accelerating and throwing cold water on the idea of any rate cuts in 2024, let alone one or two,” said Michael Landsberg, chief investment officer at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management. The blue-chip Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite are also poised for a losing week, falling 0.6% and 3.6% so far, respectively. The Nasdaq is on pace for its fourth straight down week, the longest weekly losing streak since December 2022. U.S. Treasury yields declined on Friday as investors sought safety following a strike by Israel against Iran, while they considered the latest economic data and remarks from Federal Reserve officials. At 6:32 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by over 7 basis points at 4.578%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last at 4.951% after falling by more than 3 basis points. Taiwan’s Weighted Index led losses in Asia on Friday, falling 3.81% and closing at 19,527.12, its lowest level in over a month as most major markets in the region fell amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 2.66%, paring earlier losses and ending at 37,068.35, while the broad based Topix fell 1.91% to 2,626.32. On a weekly basis, the Nikkei shed 3.65%. South Korea’s Kospi was 1.63% lower, finishing at 2,591.86, while the small-cap Kosdaq closed 1.61% lower and 841.91. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.98%, ending at 7,567.3 and marking its sixth losing session in seven days. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.95%, while the mainland Chinese CSI 300 slipped 0.79% and closing at 3,541.66. Oil prices fluctuated on Friday after Israel carried out a limited strike on Iran, triggering fears of an expanding war in the Middle East. Israel carried out a limited military strike against Iran and is currently assessing the strike’s effectiveness and damage caused, a source familiar with the situation told NBC News. The operation was conducted in the early hours of Friday morning local time. Both oil benchmarks traded lower at around 11:15 a.m. London time, erasing gains of more than 3% from earlier in the session. Global benchmark Brent crude futures traded down 0.6% at $86.60 per barrel after topping $90 earlier in the session. Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures dipped 0.4% to trade at $82.29 per barrel. Gold prices rose on Friday as reports that Israel had attacked Iran prompted fears of a wider regional conflict, increasing bullion’s safe-haven appeal. Spot gold rose 0.1% at $2,380.75 per ounce after briefly jumping as high as $2,417.59 earlier in the session. Prices hit an all-time high of $2,431.29 hit last week. Bullion was set for a fifth straight weekly rise. U.S. gold futures slipped 0.1% to $2,395.50.
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