| Stock futures rose slightly as Wall Street tried to recover from another losing week, with investors monitoring oil prices and the latest developments from the U.S.-Iran war. the U.S.-Iran war. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 153 points or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures rose 0.3% and Nasdaq-100 futures gained 0.3%. The stock sell-off has been relatively tame despite the geopolitical tensions. The US stocks saw mixed moves on Friday as an early relief rally faded. The Dow fluctuated near the flatline, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell marginally.
President Donald Trump ordered strikes on Iran military assets located on Kharg Island. While the attack didn’t impact oil infrastructure, Trump said the U.S. would consider hitting those structures if Iran continues to block the Strait. Perhaps helping sentiment a bit as the week began was a Wall Street Journal report stating that the U.S. will announce soon a coalition of countries to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, citing officials.
Along with oil and the war, investors will keep an eye on Nvidia, as the chipmaker’s GTC conference begins Monday. The Federal Reserve is also set to hold its second monetary policy meeting of the year, though no change to interest rates is expected. U.S. crude prices topped $100 per barrel as the Trump administration weighs military strikes on Tehran’s Kharg Island, a strategically vital hub often referred to as Iran’s “oil lifeline.”
Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell as investors assess elevated oil prices and the latest developments in the escalating U.S.-Iran conflict. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.07% while the Topix slid 0.98%. South Korea’s Kospi was unchanged while the Kosdaq fell 1.72%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index bucked the trend to rise 0.29%, while the CSI 300 was down 0.31%. LONDON — European stocks closed lower on Friday, as investors continued to weigh the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and its lasting impact on growth. The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally closed 0.5% lower with most major regional bourses in negative territory while sectors were mixed.
The 10-year Treasury yield was little changed on Friday as investors weighed the release of dramatically slower, downwardly revised fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth numbers. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield rose more than 1 basis point to 4.28%. The 30-year Treasury bond yield was up more than 2 bps at 4.91% and the 2-year Treasury note yield — most sensitive to short-term expectations of Federal Reserve policy moves — slid more than 2 bps to 3.73%.
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